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THE INTERPRETER'S COMMENTARY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT 

VOLUME VI 



THE EPISTLES 

TO THE CORINTHIANS 

AND GALATIANS 



WITH NOTES AND COMMENTS 
BY 

JOHN EDGAR McFADYEN, M.A. (Glas.), B.A. (Oxon.), 

PROFESSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT LITERATURE AND EXEGESIS, KNOX COLLEGE, TORONTO 

AUTHOR OF " OLD TESTAMENT CRITICISM AND THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH," " INTRODUCTION TO 

THE OLD TESTAMENT," "THE PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE," ETC. 



NEW YORK 

A. S. BARNES & COMPANY 
1909 



THE 
INTERPRETER'S COMMENTARY 

ON THE NEW TESTAMENT 



IN EIGHT VOLUMES ^^ • 



WITH NOTES AND COMMENTS 
BY 

LYMAN ABBOTT, D.D., and JOHN E. McFADYEN, M.A. 



By LYMAN ABBOTT 
The Gospel according to St. Matthew 
The Gospel according to St. Mark and St. Luke 
The Gospel according to St. John 
The Acts of the Apostles 
The Epistle to the Romans 



By JOHN E. McFADYEN 
The Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDles Recefved 

FEB 8 1909 

Copyright «vntry 
CUSS (X. aXc No. 
COPY a. *• 



Copyright^ 1909, by A. S. Barnes & Co. 



DEAR AND TRUSTY FRIEND 

REV. THOMAS ROWATT BROWN 



PREFACE. 

It has often seemed to me that BibUcal commentaries are not always as 
attractive as they might be. The scattered information given in the notes 
has to be carried back by the reader into the text with the result that the 
interpretation often seems to suffer from a certain sense of jerkiness and 
lack of continuity. I have sought to obviate this by weaving into the course 
of the comment a translation of my own which stands out prominently in 
black lettering, and which can thus be conveniently compared with the ordi- 
nary Biblical text which is printed at the top of the page, immediately above 
the commentary. The translation, running as it does through the con- 
tinuous exposition, shows the reader how the words lie in the apostle's 
mind; and they make it easy for him to follow the sequence of an argu- 
ment or to see the force of an appeal, without passing continually from the 
commentary to the text. 

The volume does not attempt to say all that might be said, but only such 
things as seemed really to interpret the apostle's thought. Its object is to 
show how interesting, how vital, and how modern those ancient epistles 
are. I desire to record my special obligations to Die Schriften des Neuen 
Testaments, neu iihersetzt und fur die Gegenwart erkl'drt. 

John E. McFadyen. 

December, 1908. 



FIRST EPISTLE TO THE 
CORINTHIANS. 



FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 

Introduction. 

No book in the New Testament exhibits more graphically the magnitude 
and variety of the problems which Christianity had to face in its effort 
to subdue the ancient world to itself, than the first epistle of Paul to the 
Corinthians. Corinth was, in a very real sense, the meeting place of east 
and west, of their commerce and their thought. Of the brilliant and beau- 
tiful city, it has been said that " in her quickly pulsing life, in her luxury 
and vice, she may be described as the Paris of the ancient world." The 
atmosphere of Greece lies about the epistle : the eager mind is here that 
discusses and questions the resurrection (xv. 12), the spirit of faction is 
here that cursed the ancient democracies, and that now threatens to rend 
the church with party cries ; the large and tolerant outlook is here, and the 
deep and vivid interest in life and its problems. 

In this city of art and commerce, of intellect and vice, there was a 
"church of God" (i. 2), founded by the apostle Paul (iii. 6). He claims 
to be the father of the Corinthian Christians, and they are his beloved 
children (iv. 14 f.). During the year and a half which he had spent at 
Corinth (Acts xviii. 11) "teaching the word of God among them," his 
evangelistic efforts had been crowned with a considerable measure of suc- 
cess (i Cor. i. 4-7) ; and though there, as everywhere, he had encountered 
bitter opposition from the Jews (Acts xviii. 6), yet not only Gentiles but 
Jews were won for the gospel, including even a ruler of the synagogue 
(Acts xviii. 8, i Cor. i. 14). Naturally, however, the bulk of the converts 
were Gentile (i Cor. xii. 2). Most of them were drawn from the lower 
classes, few were numbered among Corinth's wise or mighty or noble (i. 26) ; 
but doubtless there were a few. The graphic description of the celebration 
of the Lord's supper in xi. 20 ff. presupposes a variety of social condi- 
tions, and such a man as Stephanas (i. 16, xvi. 15) would probably be well 
off. Paul recognized the great strategic importance of Corinth. In the 
words of the vision. Be not afraid (Acts xviii. 9), we get a glimpse into 
the anxious emotion with which he began his labor ; but the eighteen months 
which he spent there were rewarded by the rise of a church, whose members 
were rich in Christian " utterance and knowledge, and came behind in no 
gift"(i.5f.). 

The work of Paul had been very ably seconded by Apollos ; what Paul 

3 



INTRODUCTION. 



had planted, Apollos had watered (iii. 6). It is clear from i. 12 that Paul 
and Apollos impressed the Corinthians in very different ways. Apollos was 
a brilliant speaker, and, as an Alexandrian, no doubt a master of the alle- 
gorical interpretation of the Old Testament (Acts xviii. 24 ff.), with which 
he confuted the Jews and proved that Jesus was the Messiah. On his 
arrival at Corinth, his influence began at once to tell powerfully : his elo- 
quent and philosophic preaching would be more attractive to the average 
Greek, who worshipped " utterance and knowledge," than the simpler and 
more unadorned speech of Paul. To the credit of both men, however, 
neither looked upon the other as a rival. They were both God's fellow- 
workers (iii. 9). Paul recognizes that ''he that planteth and he that 
watereth are one " (iii. 8) ; and Apollos, who happens to be with Paul when 
he writes this letter to the Corinthians, refuses to take advantage of Paul's 
earnest request that he should visit Corinth with the brethren who are about 
to go (xvi. 12). 

This letter was written from Ephesus (xvi. 8) — where Paul stayed be- 
tween two and three years (Acts xix. 10, xx. 31) after leaving Corinth — 
and apparently towards the conclusion of his stay (Acts xix. 21, i Cor. 
xvi. 5). It is written at any rate before Pentecost (xvi. 8), perhaps about 
Easter (of 57 A. D. ?). There was constant intercourse between Ephesus 
and Corinth, and Paul is obviously thoroughly well informed of the Corin- 
thian situation. His own letter is indeed, in part, a reply to a series of 
questions he had received from the Corinthians (vii. iff.) regarding certain 
matters of practical importance : e.g. marriage and divorce, the partaking 
of the flesh of animals offered in sacrifice to idols (viii.-x.), (perhaps also 
whether women should be unveiled in the Christian assembly, xi.) the exer- 
cise of spiritual gifts (xii.-xiv.), the proper method of taking the collection 
for the poor of the Jerusalem church (xvi.). But Paul had other sources 
of information, some of which are named, others wx are left to infer. Mem- 
bers of the household of Chloe brought him news of the divisions in the 
Corinthian church (i. 11). Through Apollos (xvi. 12) and Stephanas with 
his two companions (xvi. 17) he would be kept in touch with the situation. 
He ''hears" how certain public services are being conducted (xi. 18), he 
knows the rumors about the moral life of the church (v. i), he is aware 
of what some people are saying about the resurrection of the dead (xv. 12). 
His own letter is written with an intimate knowledge of the situation — the 
first six chapters being suggested, roughly speaking, by the reports he has 
received, the other by the letter they had sent. He liad already written a 
letter before this one which appears to have been, perhaps wilfully, misunder- 
stood (v. 9) : and the present situation is serious enough to justify him in 
sending Timothy to Corinth in advance of himself (iv. 17, xvi. 10 f.), 



INTEODUCTION. 



though whether Timothy reached Corinth or not is uncertain (cf. xvi. lo — 
if; and Acts xix. 22). 

The two most conspicuous features of the Corinthian community were 
contentious intellectuahsm and immoraHty, — both features specially charac- 
teristic of decadent Greece ; and in harmony with this is the opening em- 
phasis on the ideal sanctity and unity of the church (i. 2). The low moral- 
ity is very intelligible when we consider that Corinth was one of the great 
seats of the worship of Aphrodite, who had over a thousand priestesses in 
the city devoted to her immoral cult. It was at Corinth that Paul drew 
his dark picture of heathen morality in Rom. i. 18-32. After a terrible 
Hst of offenders against the divine law, beginning with fornicators and 
including thieves and drunkards, Paul goes on, '' And such were some of 
you" (vi. 11) — a sentence which shows the tremendous task which Chris- 
tianity had before it, and at the same time explains many of the unlovely 
features in the life of the church. Such men had to be spoken to as babes 
(iii. i). Equally conspicuoiis, however, with their low morality, was their 
intellectual conceit. Greece was the home of philosophy, and to the knowl- 
edge and wisdom of the Corinthians Paul makes many ironical allusions. 
Their knowledge " puffs them up " (viii. i, cf. iv. 6, 18) and one effect of 
this conceit is to create a divisive spirit in the community. One man claims 
to belong to Paul, another to Apollos, another to Peter (i. 12; see note). 
These watchwords no doubt represent tendencies rather than parties. The 
eloquent Apollos would have his admirers ; Paul, with his simpler gospel, 
would have his: the Petrine party probably represents a Palestinian type 
of piety — led perhaps by followers of Peter — of a narrower and less liberal 
type than that of Paul, e.g. in the matter of meat offered in sacrifice to idols. 
But despite the differences, there is no " schism " in the modern sense of the 
word : all together form the '' church of God in Corinth." 

The epistle gives us more than one interesting glimpse into the conduct 
of a religious service at Corinth (xi. 17 ff., xiv. 2 ff.). Here the rhetorical 
gifts of the Greeks would have ample scope, and there must have been some 
very effective speaking, when the secrets of the heart were manifest, and 
unbelievers were convinced that the presence of God was in the meeting" 
(xiv. 24 f.). Often however, an unbridled individualism must have reigned, 
which gives point to Paul's warning that the object of a public religious 
exercise is practically frustrated '' unless the other }nan is edified " (xiv. 
17). The natural mobility of the Greek temperament was heightened by 
its contact with the " spirit " of the new religion, and the most welcome 
manifestations of the spirit were the most sensational. The scenes at the 
services must often have been disorderly (xiv.) and sometimes disgraceful 
(xi. 21 f.). The passionate and convincing exhortation of a prophet would 



INTRODUCTION. 



be interrupted by the unintelligible speech of one who had the ecstatic gift 
of tongues. The gifts often contributed to display rather than to edifica- 
tion, and the worship seemed to be that of a God not of peace, but of con- 
fusion ; so much so that an ignorant or uncharitable stranger stepping into 
the meeting would at certain moments be inclined to believe that the w^or- 
shippers were mad (xiv. 23). Even the women, smitten with the emancipa- 
ting spirit of the new religion, were beginning to forget the decorum which 
every self-respecting Greek woman was expected to observe in public 
(xi. 5 ff.)- 

Only a man of unusual versatility would have been able to deal eflfectively 
with such a situation as that presented by Corinth. The problems which 
clamored for solution were both practical and speculative. Out of the con- 
fusion presented by those vivid and complex elements of Greek life, a world 
of order had to be created ; and the nimble Greek intellect would expect to 
be satisfied with a speculative solution of its difficulties. In both these 
directions the greatness of Paul is manifest, and he more than justifies his 
claim to be all things to all men (ix. 22) — a Greek to the Greeks no less 
than a Jew to the Jews. In this connection, the collocation of chs. xv. and 
xvi. is very striking. As at Athens (Acts xvii. 32) so at Corinth, difficul- 
ties were felt about the resurrection (i Cor. xv. 12). In an argument of 
much power and eloquence, which shows his great constructive intellect, 
Paul answers those difficulties, and then in the very next breath, begins to 
deal in the most practical way with the question of the collection (xvi.). 
The early days of Christianity needed a great organizing genius — one who 
could organize thoughts and affairs and men — and such a man they found 
in Paul. * 

Yet he would not himself have spoken of genius, but of grace ; it was by 
the grace of God that he was what he was, and did what he did (xv. 10). 
In this epistle we get a few glimpses of his unique career. He thinks with 
sorrow of the days in which he persecuted the church of God (xv. 9), but 
by the infinite grace of that God whose church he had persecuted he is 
now an apostle — indeed an apostle by a triple right : first, because he has 
seen the Lord (ix. i, cf. xv. 8) ; secondly, because his work has been 
crowned with success (ix. 2) ; lastly, because he has suffered for Jesus' sake. 
The last argument is elaborated in the second epistle, but this epistle also 
describes the hardships which he had to bear for the gospel's sake — hungry 
and thirsty, naked and bruised, hunted and doomed, a spectacle to men and 
angels (iv. 9-13). His mission in life is to preach — that is why he was 
** sent " (i. 17) ; and this he does with passion but with simplicity, without 
rhetorical or philosophical devices (i. 17, ii. i), though he is well aware 
how dear these are to the Corinthian heart. This does not mean, of course, 



INTRODUCTION. 



that Paul has no theological construction to offer of the Christian facts. 
The facts are no doubt of unique importance (xv. i-8, xi. 23 ff.), but the 
discussion of the resurrection shows how ready and competent Paul was 
to present a constructive interpretation of those facts in terms of contem- 
porary thought. There is no little irony in his disclaimer of " wisdom " on 
his own part, and his acknowledgment of the wisdom of the Corinthians 
(cf. iv. 10, etc.). At the same time, in the eyes of Greeks, his gospel of a 
crucified Messiah was foolishness, and he made no attempt to commend it 
by excusing it or by dressing it in the language of philosophy. He held 
plainly before the eyes of the Corinthians (i. 23) as of the Galatians (GaL 
iii. i) the figure of Christ upon the cross. That was the gospel, and "woe 
is unto me, if I preach not the gospel" (ix. 16). The resurrection is no 
doubt the other half of the gospel, and of no less importance (xv. 14). 
But to Paul, neither has any meaning apart from the other: it was the 
crucified Christ who rose. The one doctrine offended Greek pride, the 
other Greek scepticism; but the Christian religion, as Paul understood it, 
turns upon them, and he presses them both home in his preaching with in- 
flexible persistency. The ambition of his life is that he may never, by any 
word or deed of his, cause any hindrance to this gospel of Christ (ix. 12), 
and that by all means he may save some (ix. 22). It is never his own 
profit that he seeks, but always ** the profit of the many, that they may be 
saved" (x. 33). 

This salvation is not simply an other-worldly thing: this epistle is a fine 
illustration of how it affects the whole range of human affairs. The great 
principles of the gospel are here applied to the problems of ordinary life. 
The letter has been aptly described by Findlay as " the epistle of the cross 
in its social application," and by Sabatier as " the expansion of the Chris- 
tian principle as it spreads into the sphere of practical affairs." Its influ- 
ence upon society is primarily not revolutionary, but transforming: let each 
man abide in the calling wherein he was called (vii. 20) — transformed, be- 
cause he abides with God (vii. 24). Less directly, but hardly less power- 
fully than the epistle to the Galatians does this epistle emphasize the liberty 
that is ours in Christ. "All things are lawful" (vi. 12, x. 23) ; but the 
use which may be made of this liberty will depend upon the effect it may 
have upon others. It must not become a stumbling-block to the weak (viii. 
9, X. 32). Conduct, whether in the church or in the world, should be gov- 
erned by the law of edification (x. 23), which is only another name for the 
law of love: for it is the function of love to build up (viii. i). In all 
things, every Christian man is to seek the glory of his God (x. 31), and 
the good of his neighbor: as a member of a corporate body, he must never 



8 INTRODUCTION. 



fail to consider '' the other man." '* Let no man seek his own good, but the 
good of the other man" (x. 24; cf. xiv. 17). 

Especially must this law of love hold in the church, among those that are 
of the household of faith (Gal, vi. 10). They come together to worship 
God, and to help one another — not for the worse, but for the better (xi. 
17). The test of the value of a religious service is its power to "edify," 
to build up the worshippers. If '' the other man is not edified " (xiv. 17) 
by the exercise, then we may well ask what is its value and place in the 
church. Spiritual gifts are of many kinds, but love must determine how 
they shall be exercised (xii. 28 flf.), and in any case the most helpful are 
the most desirable. Into his wonderful eulogy of love, which Alford de- 
scribes as '' perhaps the noblest assemblage of beautiful thoughts in beau- 
tiful language extant in this our world," the apostle pours the fulness of 
his heart (xiii). This conception of the church as a body with members, 
every one of which is necessary to. the welfare of the whole, and every one 
of which needs every other, is worked out with great suggestiveness (xiv.).' 

Sometimes Paul's teaching is colored by his views of the near coming of 
Christ. The fact that the time is short, appears, for example, to influence 
his discussion of marriage (vii. 26-29, ^f. x. 11). But in any case the 
eschatological background of the epistle does not interfere with our direct 
appropriation of its teaching. In its protest against discord and faction and 
its plea for holiness and unity within the church, in its emphasis upon bodily 
purity and the maintenance of an inexorable moral standard in matters af- 
fecting the relations of the sexes, in its fine combination of tolerance for 
all that is not inimical to the spirit of Christianity with practical consid- 
eration for the brother whom that tolerance might mislead, in its lofty sense 
of the place and power of public worship and of the obligation of each 
member of the Christian community to contribute to the good of the whole, 
in its emphatic assertion of the resurrection, and in the supreme place which 
it assigns to love, the message of the epistle is immortal. The light of the 
world to come is shed back upon the world that now is. While bracing its 
readers to face their earthly problems and do their earthly duties, it holds 
steadily before their eyes the great consummation of history, when all things 
shall have been subjected to the Son, and God shall be all in all (xv. 28). 



THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 

TO THE 
CORINTHIANS. 



CHAPTER I. 

I Paul called to he an apostle of Jesus 
Christ through the will of God, and Sos- 
thenes our brother. 



2 Unto the church of God which is at 
Corinth, to them that are sanctified in 
Christ Jesus, called to he saints, with 
all that in every place call upon the name 
of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and 
ours : 



The Greeting (i. 1-3). 

Paul, by divine vocation, an apostle of 
Jesus Christ, 

And brother Sosthenes, 

To the church of God at Corinth, 

Whose members ha\t been sanctified 
through union with Christ Jesus, and 
WHO are therefore saints by vocation : 

And not to you only, but to all who 
anywhere call upon the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who is their Lord as 
WELL as ours : 

To ALL OF you be GRACE AND PEACE FROM 

God our Father and the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

1. Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ, 

sent by Him and sent to proclaim Him, 
That was the work of his life from his 
conversion, and it is in his capacity as an 
apostle that he writes to the Corinthians, 
But he has not sought this task of himself : 
he was called to it by an express act of 
the will of God. His words will there- 
fore have special weight. There are many 
unlovely features in the conduct of the Co- 
rinthian church which will call for grave 
reproof, and the claim Paul makes in these 
words to be divinely called to his apostle- 
ship justifies in advance the authority with 
which he will subsequently speak. It was 
all the more necessary to throw this well 
into the forefront, as some of the Corin- 
thians appear to have challenged or depre- 
ciated his apostleship. Am I not an apostle? 
(ix. 2), 

2. And Paul associates with himself Sos- 
thenes, whom he calls the brother. Who 
this man was, we cannot be sure, as the 
name was not uncommon : it is not impossi- 
ble that he is to be identified with the ruler 
of the synagogue mentioned in Acts xviii, 
17, If, as has been conjectured, he was 
converted, after the departure of Paul from 
Corinth, by the preaching of Apollos, there 
would be a peculiar propriety about the 



mention of him here, considering the party 
spirit which existed in Corinth, and which 
Paul takes a very early opportunity of re- 
buking (ver, 12), Apollos was no rival, 
and his converts Paul regarded as friends. 
In any case, Sosthenes must have been a 
person of some importance, and the naming 
of him at the beginning of the letter, rather 
than at the end, and in immediate con- 
junction with Paul's own name, shows that 
he is not to be regarded as a mere aman- 
uensis, but that he shared, if not in the com- 
position of the letter (ist pers,, sing, is 
used in i, 4, 10; plu. in ver. 23), at any 
rate in its sentiments. 

The letter is addressed to the church of 
God, the ecclesia, which had been called by- 
God out of the world, and which belonged 
to Him, The church includes all who call 
upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in 
every place, but it has also local centers; 
and the specific destination of this letter is 
the church which existed and flourished in 
Corinth. The church of God in Corinth! 
the words seem like a contradiction or a 
dream. Corinth, the home of idolatry and 
immorality, an immorality more unblushing 
perhaps than in any other part of Greece; 
yet the church of God is there. Again, that 
church is very far from being what it should 
be : Paul has to censure repeatedly and 
earnestly its disputatious spirit and its low 
ideals. All the more remarkable, therefore, 
are the chaste and lofty words in which he 
proceeds to describe the Corinthian church. 
It consists of men who have been sancti- 
fied in Christ Jesus, that is, who have been 
separated from the world, and made holy, 
not so much by Him as in Him, that is, 
through abiding in Him, And just as Paul 
was called to his apostleship, so they are 
no less really called to this life of holiness. 
Considering the real state of the Corinthian 
church, as disclosed by this epistle, Paul's 
repeated emphasis on its holiness sounds 
strange; but we have to remember that he 



10 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. 1 



3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from 
God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

4 I thank my God always on your be- 



half, for the grace of God which is given 
you by Jesus Christ; 

5 That in every thing ye are enriched 
by him, in all utterance, and in all knowl- 
edge; 



is speaking here of the church as a whole, 
not of individual members, and again that 
he is contemplating the church on its ideal 
side. Despite its grave blemishes, it does 
not cease to be a church, so long as its 
members are, in some real sense, in Christ. 

It is singular, but no doubt intentional, 
that Paul should not extend his greetings 
to the Corinthian church alone, but that he 
associates with that church all who in any 
place call upon the name of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. The first rebuke that Paul 
administers is to the sectional and party 
spirit of the Corinthians (ver. loff.). 
Here he, as it were, admonishes them in 
advance and by implication, gently remind- 
ing them that the church, which they were 
dismembering by their divisions, was a 
great and impressive unity, with a scope 
and a membership far beyond themselves, 
and that it embraced all who acknowledged 
the lordship of Jesus. To make this point 
still more plain, he adds, theirs and ours. 
Some take this phrase with the word place 
— in every place, theirs and ours; but this 
is tame. The meaning seems rather to be, 
their Lord and ours; and the phrase is a 
delicate reminder that the one Jesus is 
Lord of all. 

3. The names of the writers and of the 
people addressed are followed by the greet- 
ing proper : Grace be to you and peace 
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Grace is the loving favor of 
God, which issues in peace for the men 
who are conscious of it. To a church torn 
by internal dissensions, this initial prayer 
for peace would be specially appropriate. 
The ultimate source of this grace and peace 
is divine : it can only come from God and 
Jesus Christ. It is very significant that 
these two names can be thus set together 
under the government of a single preposi- 
tion. This co-ordination of the names is 
a subtle, but significant evidence that Paul 
conceived of Jesus as occupying an alto- 
gether unique relation to God. 

Incidentally, one cannot help noticing 

in this section (a) the importance attached 
to a divine call. It is the consciousness of 
his call to be an apostle that gives to Paul's 
career its unity, and to his words their 
authority: similarly the life-work of any 
man may be done with concentration and 



enthusiasm if it be begun and continued in 
the inspiration of such a call. And again 
(b) there are here suggested the marks of 
a true church. Its members are men who 
are sanctified by union with Jesus Christ, 
who acknowledge Him as Lord, and the aim 
of whose life is holiness. 



Paul expresses his gratitude for the gifts 
of grace enjoyed by the Corinthian Chris- 
tians (i. 4-9). 

4, 5. Paul begins, as is his custom, with 
a note of thanksgiving ; and so utterly self- 
less is his life, that his recorded thanks- 
givings are nearly always expressions of 
gratitude for what God has done for others 
— as here, I thank God continually con- 
cerning: you (ver. 4). This introductory 
expression of his solemn joy in the Corin- 
thian church is peculiarly skilful and tact- 
ful, as so much of the subsequent letter is 
occupied with reproof of their shortcom- 
ings : he wins their good will at the outset 
by his frank recognition of their Christian 
attainments. He was grateful because of 
the grace of God which was given to you 
in Christ Jesus — not by Jesus, as A. V. 
reads: this is to miss the truth that the 
grace was dependent upon union with Him. 
What Paul precisely means by grace is 
made plain by the next clause : (I mean), 
that in everything ye were enriched in 
Him (ver. 5) — union with Christ had ex- 
panded and enriched their nature, especially 
in utterance of every kind and knowledge 
of every kind: that is, it had touched and 
quickened their natural powers of expres- 
sion and insight. The Greeks had for cen- 
turies, been famous as speakers and 
thinkers, and the influence' of Christ is 
manifest in the new power that has come 
to them in both those directions; they have 
a richer power of apprehending truth, and 
of expressing the truth they apprehend. Or 
perhaps it is significant that Paul speaks 
here in the past tense : the gift was given, 
and they zvcre enriched. The present con- 
dition of the church leaves much to be 
desired, as we see from the immediate se- 
quel ; and it is perhaps ominous that Paul 
puts speech before knowledge. The glib- 
tongued, nimble-witted Greeks wert ever 
ready for an argument. 



Ch. I] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



11 



6 Even as the testimony of Christ was 
confirmed in you : 

7 So that ye come behind in no gift; 
waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ : 

8 Who shall also confirm you unto the 



end, that ye may he blameless in the day of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. 

9 God is faithful, by whom ye were 
called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus 
Christ our Lord. 



6-8. You were enriched, says Paul, in- 
asmuch as the testimony concerning 
Christ, that is, the gospel, was confirmed 
among you or in you — whether that con- 
firmation took some external form as, e.g. 
of miracles wrought by the spirit (cf. Gal. 
iii. 5), or showed itself as deep inner con- 
viction and new or quickened spiritual 
powers : the words that follow perhaps 
rather suggest the latter interpretation. So 
the consequence of this confirmation was 
that there is no endowment of grace in 
which you feel yourselves behind. But 
this consciousness could only be maintained 
by fixing their hearts upon the better thing 
beyond, upon the full unveiling of Christ 
when He should come again : so to this 
they earnestly looked forward, patiently 
awaiting the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ (ver. 7). And this same Jesus Christ 
in whom they had been sanctified and en- 
riched in the past, is He who vail also for 
the future confirm you, even till the end 
of this dispensation (that is, till He comes 
again), and will ensure that no charge be 
laid against you in the day of our Lord 
Jesus (Christ) when He comes in judg- 
ment — a phrase modelled on the Old Tes- 
tament day of the Lord or Jehovah. The 
who at the beginning of ver. 8 has been 
referred by some to God, on the ground 
that, if it referred to Christ, its immediate 
antecedent, the sentence would more nat- 
urally end in this day instead of in the day 
of our Lord Jesus. But against this, it has 
to be noticed that, in these opening verses, 
the name of the Lord Jesus occurs ten 
times, obviously repeated with deliberate 
and solemn emphasis : more probably there- 



fore the who refers, as it most naturally 
does, to Christ. 

g. Paul is sure that Christ, till and at 
His coming, will do all this for the Corin- 
thian Christians, because God is faithful. 
He is true to Himself, to His purpose, to 
those whom He calls. It was through 
Him ye were called. His purpose in call- 
ing you cannot be frustrated ; and obedience 
to the call has brought you into the fel- 
lowship of His son, Jesus Christ our 
Lord: that is, the fellowship established 
by and centering in Him, so that they 
share the life which He lives and the 
blessings which He has procured. They, in 
their measure, will be, like Him, sons of God 
and heirs of heavenly glory. In part, this 
fellowship is already realized, for are they 
not sanctified and enriched in Him ? and 
its full fruition is sure, because God is 
faithful. 



This is a tender and beautiful introduc- 
tion to the earnest words of reproof which 
are to follow. Before dealing with their 
shortcomings, the apostle gratefully ac- 
knowledges before God the many gifts and 
graces which the Corinthians owe to Christ, 
assures them of His power to keep them 
free from charge on the great day of 
judgment, and rests his confidence for the 
future on the fidelity of God. His glance 
sweeps across the years from the day when 
they were called to be saints to that other 
day when they shall stand unimpeached 
and blameless. Then, from this inspiring 
vision of the past and future, he turns 
abruptly to the less lovely present. 



12 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. I 



THE APOSTLE'S REBUKE OF THE SPIRIT OF FACTION 

. (i. lo-iv. 2i). 



10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by 
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 
ye all speak the same thing, and that there 
be no divisions among you; but that ye 
be perfectly joined together in the same 
mind and in the same judgment. 



11 For it hath been declared unto me 
of you, my brethren, by them which are 
of the house of Chloe, that there are con- 
tentions among you. 

12 Now this I say, that every one of 
you saith, I am of Paul ; and I of Apol- 



The Corinthian Parties (ver. 10-17). 

10. But, brethren, I appeal to you. 

The tone changes : a note of warning and 
reproof begins to be struck. But in his 
severity, Paul does not forget to be cour- 
teous. Though the charge he is about to 
bring against the Corinthians is a serious 
one, they are still his brethren. But he is 
in deadly earnest ; and he solemnly be- 
seeches them by the name of Him in whom 
they are sanctified, and into whose fellow- 
ship they have been called — that august 
name which he has already repeated ten 
times, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
the one Lord of all who call upon Him, 
and in whom they are all one (ver. 10). 
They are indeed one — ideally at least — 
but they act as if they were a group of 
parties, each with its party sentiments and 
party cry: so Paul exhorts them in the 
name of their common Lord, that ye say 
the same thing, one and all of you. As 
it was, they were saying different things : 
one was saying, " I am of Paul," another, 
" And I of Apollos ;" and the unity that 
ought to mark the church was being im- 
perilled or destroyed by the spirit of 
schism. The positive exhortation to say 
the same thing is expressed negatively in 
the next clause, and that there be no di- 
visions among you. (Tx^<T/j.a (schism) is 
the word used in Mark ii. 21 for a rent in 
a piece of cloth. It is as if the fair gar- 
ment of the church were being rent in 
pieces. In a Christian church there ought 
to be no rent ; or if there be, it ought to 
be repaired and adjusted without delay. In 
the verb KaTTjpTia/xevoi the metaphor of the 
rent is kept up. I beseech you that there 
be no schisms, but rather that ye be well 
adjusted together in a common outlook 
and a common judgment: literally, in the 
same mind and the same judgment or 
opinion. There should be a unity, Paul 
urges, among the members of the church 
both in general mental disposition, and in 
their judgments of particular things: and 
there will be this unity, if they give Christ, 



by whose name he beseeches them, his true 
place as Lord. 

11. Paul is not making his charge 
merely on hearsay : his sources of informa- 
tion are reliable and he is not afraid to 
mention them. For with regard to you 
it has been made plain to me, my 
brethren, by the representatives of Chloe. 
Notice again (cf. ver. 10), the courtesy and 
tact with which he prefaces his formal 
charge that there are contentions among 
you with the acknowledgment that they are 
his brethren. The contentions explain the 
divisions. Some such vague word as rep- 
resentatives is necessary to translate the 
vague Greek phrase " those of Chloe," as 
we have no means of knowing whether 
they were children, servants, or agents. 
We do not even know who Chloe was or 
to what city she belonged. Clearly she 
was some one who carried weight with the 
Corinthians, as Paul does not expect the 
testimony of her representatives to be chal- 
lenged. She appears to have been a woman 
either of Corinth or of Ephesus, the city 
in which Paul wrote — more probably Ephe- 
sus, as Corinthian evidence on the state of 
parties at Corinth would have been open 
to suspicion. In that case, Chloe's repre- 
sentatives, whoever they were, must have 
spent some time in Corinth. 

12. Paul at once proceeds to make his 
meaning perfectly clear. What I mean, he 
says, is this. Every one of you is taking 
sides. One is saying, I belong to Paul; 
another, I to Apollos; another, I to 
Peter; another, I to Christ. This partisan 
spirit in the church must have seemed to 
Paul a matter of grav'e and even vital im- 
portance, as he puts it in the very fore- 
front of his letter. Many questions gather 
round this famous verse. Were there four 
parties in Corinth or three (omitting / am 
of Christ as the gloss of a copyist, or even 
an aside of Paul himself) or were there 
only two — that of Paul and Apollos em- 
bracing the Gentile Christians, that of 
Peter and Christ embracing the Jewish 
Christians? Were these groups parties at 



Ch. I] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



13 



los ; and I of Cephas ; and I of Christ. I fied for you ? or were ye baptized in the 
13 Is Christ divided? was Paul cruci- * name of Paul? 



all in the ordinary sense of the word? Did 
they differ essentially in doctrine — that of 
Paul and Apollos, for example — or was 
the preference of the members personal 
rather than doctrinal? What was the 
Christ-party? It would be very natural for 
converts to regard with special affection 
the man who had brought to them the 
knowledge of Christ, and there would be 
a tendency to regard his presentation of the 
gospel as exhaustive and exclusive. This 
tendency would in certain cases become a 
fact, the moment another presentation en- 
tered the field. After the departure of 
Paul from Corinth, the brilliant Apollos 
had appeared, and there would be little 
wonder if his eloquence, and philosophy too 
perhaps, had dazzled a people who had 
ever been fond of oratorical display; and 
it would be very natural if, in the eyes of 
some, he had overshadowed the apostle 
whose ambition was to present his message 
with simplicity rather than with eloquence. 
Doubtless the average Corinthian would 
have been more impressed by Apollos than 
by Paul ; and while those who, under God, 
owed their soul to Paul, would be faithful 
to him and accept the gospel in the form 
in which he had presented it, there would 
be others who preferred Apollos and his 
presentation of it. Thus the difference be- 
tween these two groups, though probably 
personal rather than doctrinal, was thor- 
oughly real and bade fair to be serious. 

But real as this difference was, it was 
less radical than that between either of 
these parties and the other two. Paul and 
Apollos stood together for Gentile Chris- 
tianity: the party of Peter — or Cephas, 
as he is always (except in Gal. ii. 7, 8) 
called in the Pauline epistles (cf. Gal. ii. 
9) — represented rather Jewish Chris- 
tianity : the very word Cephas on Greek lips 
sug'gests Palestinian origin. This party 
probably adopted a stricter attitude to the 
law, and would include Jews and Greek 
proselytes who had connected themselves 
with the synagogue. The nature of the 
Christ party is more difficult to determine. 
Little light can be gained from 2 Cor. x. 7, 
as those who there boast to be " of Christ " 
are not necessarily the same as those al- 
luded to here. The nucleus of this party 
may have been some of those who had seen 
the Lord (xv. S), or it may simply have 
consisted of those whose watchword was 
" Back to Christ," back beyond His human 
ministers to the Lord Himself. But to 



make this a party cry, to bring Him into 
competition with Paul, Apollos and Peter, 
to claim for a single sect the monopoly, as 
it were, of Christ, was to be guilty of the 
worst sectarianism of all : it was, as a 
Greek father said, to place the Master and 
His servants upon the same level. Christ 
is over all and belongs to all, " their Lord 
and ours " (ver, 2). _ 

13. As Paul considers these parties, 
whose cries are ringing in his ears, his 
soul is stirred with holy indignation. Has 
Christ been divided? he impetuously asks. 
This sentence may also be translated 
affirmatively — Christ is then divided ! — 
but as a question it is much more vigorous 
and dramatic, and the absence of such a 
f^V as introduces the next question is no 
objection, Christ belonged to the whole 
church — ye are Christ's, iii. 23 — here He 
was being claimed by a section of it. Or 
It seemed as if Christ were made into 
shares — the Christ as expounded by Paul 
different from the Christ expounded by 
Apollos or Peter. This partisan spirit was 
perilous in two directions : it distracted at- 
tention from the central facts — from 
Christ, His work, and in particular His 
cross, which Paul immediately mentions ; 
and by emphasizing the church leaders, it 
leads to glorying in men, instead of in the 
Lord (ver. 31). 

Nothing could more strikingly illustrate 
the unique and central importance attached 
by Paul to the cross of Christ than the 
position he assigns it here. Immediately 
after the mention of Christ comes the men- 
tion of his cross. Was it Paul that was 
CRUCIFIED for you? — and the next sec- 
tion (vv. 18-25) is entirely devoted to a dis- 
cussion of the cross. Of all the facts in the 
earthly career of Christ, this was the most 
significant ; and the thought of it, had it 
.held the place in the Corinthian mind to 
which it was entitled, would have rendered 
all dissension at once unseemly and im- 
possible. It was not a mere death, but a 
death for them. He was crucified for you 
— ^and Paul rejects with horror the thought 
that he or Apollos or Peter or any one but 
Christ could have attained the lonely dis- 
tinction of "dying for our sins," as it is 
put in XV. 3. 

It is noteworthy that Paul here singles 
out the cross and baptism as the two 
things that give Christ His exclusive claim 
to the allegiance of the Corinthian Chris- 
tians — His being crucified for them and 



14 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. I 



14 . I thank God that I baptized none 
of you, but Crispus and Gaius ; 

15 Lest any should say that I had bap- 
tized in mine own name. 

16 And I baptized also the household 



of Stephanas : besides, I know not whether 
I baptized any other. 

17 For Christ sent me not to baptize,, 
but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom 
of words, lest the cross of Christ should 
be made of none effect. 



their baptism into His name : or was it 
into the name of Paul that ye were bap- 
tized? The name of no church leader was 
in any way implicated in the baptismal for- 
mula ; consequently the recognition which 
these leaders received in the party cry was 
absurd and scandalous. Apparently the 
longer Trinitarian formula of Mat. xxviii. 
19 was not yet in use, and baptism was sim- 
ply into the name of Christ. 

14-16. At this point it occurs to Paul 
tliat it is a matter to be thankful for that 
he has, in his ministry among them, con- 
fined himself so strictly to preaching, and 
that he had so seldom baptized. Thus the 
last shred of justification for their regard- 
ing him as a party leader vanished. I am 
thankful, he says (some MSS. add to God) 
that not one of you did I baptize except 
Crispus, a former ruler of the synagogue 
(Acts xviii. 8), and Gaius, "probably a 
rich freedman, to whom the honorable duty 
of entertaining the guests of the Church 
was assigned (Rom. xvi. 23) " (Ramsay 
in Expositor, Feby. 1900, p. loi). Ver. 15 
— " lest any one should say, etc " — reads as 
if Paul had deliberately refrained from 
baptizing to prevent people from miscon- 
struing his motive. This of course is not 
his meaning : he is merely expressing his 
gratitude at the Providence which, all un- 
consciously to himself, he now sees to have 
been watching over his ministry, keeping 
him, as an almost invariable rule, from bap- 
tizing his converts, so that none of you is 
able to say that it was into my name that 
you were baptized (ver. 15). Then as an 
afterthought — perhaps suggested by Ste- 
phanas himself (xvi. 15, 17) — he remem- 
bers I also baptized the household of 
Stephanas: if there be any other beside 
— and he thinks there are none — I do not 
remember them. 

17. The whole tone of the references to 
baptism shows that, though Paul regards 
the rite as of great importance (ver. 13) he 
does not lay any stress upon his particular 
administration of it. For it was not to 
baptize that Christ sent me, but to tell 

the good news. The words aTre'crrctXeV ixe 
Xptaros recall the dTroo-roXos 'Jrjcrov Xpicrrov 
of ver. I. This then was the object of his 
calling to the apostlcship — not to admin- 
ister sacraments, but to preach. Here Paul 



glides subtly and almost insensibly into his 
second charge against the Corinthian 
Church — their love of rhetorical and phi- 
losophical displa}', which tended to make 
them misunderstand or depreciate the mes- 
sage of the cross. His message is to preach, 
but the preaching has to be not in wisdom 
of word. Probably zvisdom here refers as 
much to the form as to the substance of 
the pre'sentation : in either case he puts his 
finger upon one of the weak spots in the 
Greek nature. In preaching, he made no 
effort to be a clever speaker, as we might 
paraphrase the words — he was too much in 
earnest, and had too solemn a theme in, 
the cross for that : nor did he make any 
attempt to philosophize — an idea also sug- 
gested by the Greek words. His plainness 
of speech appears even to have alienated 
some of the expectant Corinthians (2 Cor. 
X. 10) ; and probably in this repudiation of 
the wisdom of word, there is a latent crit- 
icism of the ideals of the Apollos party. 

We have already seen (ver. 13) how 
central the cross must have been in the 
preaching of Paul : here again, and quite 
incidentally, it is made plain that for him 
the essence of. the gospel is the story of 
the cross. For the reason he assigns for 
avoiding the wisdom of words in his 
preaching, is lest the cross of Christ be 
deprived of its effect — literally, emptied, 
depleted, like a vessel, of its content. The 
" clever or subtle speaking," which is al- 
ways deplorable in a preacher, becomes a 
sort of blasphemy, w'hen his theme is the 
cross ; it distracts the attention from the 
great fact and deprives the message of its 
power over the heart. It is also worthy of 
note that Paul speaks here not of the cross 
of Jesus, but of Christ: the crucified one is 
the Messiah, " the risen and exalted Lord." 
The phrase the cross of Christ is reserved 
for the emphatic place at the end — "that 
there be no etnptying of the cross of 
Christ." 



The tension under which Paul writes is 
shown by the rapidity w'ith which he 
plunges into the discussion of the parties 
in the Corinthian church, and by the di- 
rectness and impetuosity of the discussion. 
We are not to suppose that the unity of 



Ch. I] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



15 



i8 For the preaching of the cross is 
to them that perish, foolishness ; but unto 
us which are saved, it is the power of God. 



19 For it is written, I will destroy the 
wisdom of the wise, and will bring to 
nothing the understanding of the prudent. 



the church was absolutely wrecked by this 
partisan spirit; as yet it was only im- 
perilled, though gravely imperilled. But it 
was still possible for " the whole church " 
to come together (xiv. 22,), so that, in a 
real sense, though one party claims to be 
specifically Christ's (ver. 12), they are all 
Christ's (iii. 22,). Still this emphasis upon 
human leadership, upon some specific and in- 
dividual interpretation of the gospel, is ever 
a serious menace to the unity of the church 
of the Christ. Doubtless beneath all ec- 
clesiastical, historical and doctrinal differ- 
ences, there is a real unity ; but even that 
is imperilled when these differences are 
accentuated. So long as men are governed 
by the Protestant impulse to think with 
courage and independence, they will often 
differ, especially where the evidence is 
meagre, and capable of manifold interpre- 
tation : but the difference must not be exag- 
gerated, it must be accompanied by the 
recognition of its relative unimportance, it 
must be seen in the light of the larger 
unity in Christ. 

It is pathetic to think that even the Lord's 
supper, which, more than anything else, is 
fitted to be a bond of union for those who 
love Him, should have so often proved to 
be a point of separation. " I am of Lu- 
ther," " I am of Zwingli " — cries like these 
nearly jeopardied the unity of the Reforma- 
tion ; and to-day — though this is less and 
less the case — the names of Calvin and 
Wesley divide large branches of the Chris- 
tian church. There is no more important 
lesson for the modern church, confronted 
with the stupendous problem of the evan- 
gelization of the world, than that which 
Paul urges here so powerfully — to sink 
all differences in the recognition of the 
supreme allegiance which all alike owe to 
Christ, who was crucified for them, and 
into whose name they were baptized. 



The Folly and the Wisdom of the Cross 
(i. 18-25). 

18. The cross, as we have seen, was 
central to the preaching of Paul. He fears 
and shuns subtle discourse, "wisdom of 
word," because of its power to obscure 
the cross (ver. 17). Yet to the great ma- 
jority of those who first heard the gospel, 
Jews and Greeks alike, the cross was a 
hopelessly unintelligible riddle: it was the 



crucifixion of their most cherished be- 
liefs and hopes. For the story of the 
cross is folly in the eyes of those 
who are perishing (ver. 18) — not sim- 
ply, those who are destined to perish : 
the idea rather is that those who reject that 
story as silly, are perishing in virtue of 
their rejection, and will continue to perish 
so long as they reject it. The road to de- 
struction is to count the story of Christ's 
cross a foolish one : but there are others 
to whom it proves itself nothing less than 
a divine pozver. To those who are being 
saved — and such are we — it is the 
power of God. There is a fine balance 
about this sentence (rots /xev . . . rols 
5e) : we may draw fine shades of distinction 
between men, but ultimately and essentially 
there are only two classes, and these are 
determined by their attitude to Christ and 
His cross — those who are being lost, those 
who think the story silly, and those who 
are being saved, those who find that it 
speaks to them with divine power. Paul 
speaks for this group out of the depths of 
an experience which he knows they share 
C to those who are being saved, even to 
us;" rols 5e oco^ofievoLs v/hlv). The natural 
contrast to foolishness would be zvisdom 
(cf. ver. 25) : Paul, however, deliberately 
uses power here to suggest that the story 
has vindicated itself as a mighty, saving 
fact. This is the practical proof of its 
wisdom. 

19. There is nothing unusual about this 
issue of worldly wisdom in destruction : 
it is part of the divine government of the 
world and is attested by the Hebrew Scrip- 
tures. For it stands in Scripture (perf. 
tense) : " I will cause the wisdom of the 
wise to perish (note the echo in diroXui of 
d-rroWv/xei'oi.s) and the discernment of the 
discerning I will reduce to nothing " — 
in the original passage the last word is / 
zoill hide (Isaiah xxix. 14). This appeal 
to the Old Testament is very characteristic : 
this section must have been a favorite, as 
the previous verse is quoted by our Lord 
in Mat. xv. 8. In the original passage, 
the reference is to the political schemes by 
which the Jews hoped to save themselves 
from the Assyrians. The New Testament 
writers, as a rule, care little for the orig- 
inal context, and they apply the passages 
they quote more generally, or refer them 
definitely to the situation in their own day. 



16 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. I 



20 Where is the wise? where is the 
scribe? where is the disputer of this world? 
hath not God made foohsh the wisdom 
of this world? 

21 For after that in the wisdom of God 
the world by wisdom knew not God, it 



pleased God by the foolishness of preach- 
ing to save them that believe. 

22 For the Jews require a sign, and 
the Greeks seek after wisdom : 

2^ But we preach Christ crucified, unto 
the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the 
Greeks foolishness ; 



20. Worldly wisdom, whether of the 
Jews or Greeks, leads nowhere, or only to 
destruction. For where is your philoso- 
pher? where is your scribe? where is 
your worldly controversialist? (literally, 
where is the disputer of this age?) Here 
again we have a reminiscence of Isaiah 
xix. II f. and xxxiii. i8. Some regard 
ao06s as a general term, which is subdi- 
vided into the Jewish ypa/j-f^arevs (scribe) 
and the Greek aw'^riTriT-ns. But, whether 
the last term be an allusion to Greek or 
Jew, — and it may equally well be Jew 
(Acts vi. 9_) — it seems more natural in a 
passage ridiculing the Corinthian co^ia^ to 
refer co(j)6s to the Greek, and ypaf^fxarevs of 
course, to the Jew. Where were these phi- 
losophers and scribes ? asks Paul, and he 
answers by impHcation, Nowhere. All their 
philosophies amounted to nothing when it 
came to an interpretation of the mind of 
God, especially as illustrated in the cross 
of Christ: for did God not turn the wis- 
dom of the world into folly? Jew and 
Greek alike failed to understand and ap- 
preciate the most stupendous, if mysterious, 
fact of history — the cross of Christ; there- 
fore they and their systems stood con- 
victed of folly. Theirs was a wisdom of 
the world, the Koaixos, that is, the material 
world : such worldly wisdom was incom- 
petent to interpret the spiritual world. 

21. Since then, in the wisdom of 
God, the world, by its wisdom, had at- 
tained no real knowledge of God: it is 
not quite certain what is meant by in 
the wisdom of God — whether that this 
incompetence on the part of the world 
is part of a wise, divine plan, or that by 
the wisdom of God is meant the revelation 
in the pre-Christian world, to the Jews in 
Scripture, to the Greeks in. nature : the 
former interpretation seems the more nat- 
ural. But since in either case the world 
knew not God, and He was desirous that 
it should have a saving knowledge of Him, 
He graciously determined, by means of 
this foolish message of the cross (liter- 
ally, "by the foolishness of the message") 
to save those who believed it. With 
much emphasis rohs Tncrevopras is reserved 
to the end: it is those who believe it who 



are saved, those who count it silly only 
succeed in perishing. 

22, 23. The Jews and the Greeks rep- 
resent the two great outstanding attitudes 
to the problem of life : together, in a sense, 
they exhaust the world (ver. 21) which, by 
its wisdom, failed to find God. Hence Paul 
here divides the world into these two great 
categories, and suggests why they went 
astray in their search : Jews demand signs 
and Greeks are in search of wisdom. 
To both (/cat . . . /cat) the plain message 
of the cross is unconvincing. As in the 
time of Jesus, the Jews demanded a sign 
(Mat. xvi. I, Mark viii. 11 f.) : then they 
might believe. They were moving in the 
region of externals : a spiritual message 
needs no external authentication. The 
Greeks, on the other hand, were animated 
by a philosophical spirit, and this alone 
would never lead to the cross. But in 
contradiction to the Jews, "with their ex- 
ternalism and the Greeks with their phi- 
losophy, WE preach Christ as crucified.^ 
Though Paul speaks in the context of his 
own mission (i. 17) and method (ii. 2) no 
doubt by zve here he means to include oth- 
ers besides himself : he was not alone — 
probably Apollos and others were with him 
— • in proclaiming Christ as crucified. We 
preach Christ: how personal this sounds as 
against the abstractions of Greek philosophy ! 
It is not a system, but a man, who has to be 
presented by the preacher. And that man 
crucified! (iffravpoj/xeuov^ perf. part. : the 
crucifixion is not merely a historic event 
[aor.] but an eternal fact, at any rate a 
fact of eternal consequences) A crucified 
Messiah! Here was the real offence, an 
offence to both the types that exhaust the 
world (/"f" . . . 5f') — to Jews a stum- 
bling block, to Gentiles folly. Here Paul 
strikes at the root of the matter. All ear- 
nest religious men were longing, more or 



^ The grammar of vv. 22, 23 is a little diflficult. 
Probably ver. 23 is not to be regarded as the 
principal clause, of which ver. 22 is the subor- 
dinate: " Since the Jews ask a sign, etc. , . . 
we preach Christ " :" for the former fact is not 
the reason for Paul's preaching Christ. But 
rather vv. 22-24 are to be taken as amplifying 
V. 21: "Since, that is, the Tews ask a sign 
. . . while we preach Christ." 



Ch. I] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



17 



24 But unto them which are called, 
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power 
of God, and the wisdom of God. 



25 Because the foolishness of God is 
wiser than men ; and the weakness of 
God is stronger than men. 



less consciously, for salvation ; but that that 
should come through a crucified man was 
incredible, ridiculous, to Jew and Greek 
alike. " He that is hanged . is accursed of 
God," said the Jew (Deut. xxi. 23) ; be- 
sides, the Messiah was to come in regal 
splendor and as conqueror. Little won- 
der that a crucified Messiah was a stum- 
bling block to the Jews. To the Gen- 
tiles — the Greeks and the Romans — such 
a gospel was equal folly: the horror with 
which the Romans regarded the cross re- 
ceives graphic expression in the words of 
Cicero : " Away wath the very name of 
cross, not only from the bodies of citizens 
of Rome,, but even from their thoughts, 
their eyes, their ears." 

24, 25. To the world at large, the cross 
might be a stumbling block and a folly : 
but to ' those that are actually called 
(literally, to the called themselves) — and 
these embraced both Jews and Greeks — 
this crucified Christ is divine power and 
divine wisdom incarnate. "When truly un- 
derstood, He can meet both the Jewish 
demand for a sign, and the Greek demand 
for wisdom. Upon His cross. He is the 
embodiment at once of the might and the 
wisdom of God. There is something very 
impressive in the rhythmic repetition of 
Qeox) (God) before 8vva/xLv (power) and 
ao(pLav (wisdom), and in the stately balance 
of the next sentence. The frequent repe- 
tition of Qeov (God) in these verses is 
designed to suggest that we are here deal- 
ing with the inscrutable things of God. 
For this weak and foolish policy, as it 
m.ay seem, of salvation by the cross, (note 
that TO iiwpov and to daOevis are concrete), 
seeing that it is divine — it _ is God's 
policy (twice over) — is wiser and 
stronger than men, and all that they can 
do or devise. 



To appreciate this passage properly, it 
must not be forgotten that it is pervaded 
by a delicate irony. Paul hurls the shafts 
of his fine ridicule at the Greek aocpia 
(wisdom) ; but it would be unjust to infer 
from this that what he calls in ver. 18 the 
" message " or the " story of the cross " 
is simply to be accepted as a fact, without 
any attempt being made to correlate it with 
other facts or to find a place for it in a 
theological scheme. Every thoughtful man 



has the impulse to relate a new fact to his 
general view of the world ; and the more 
important is the fact, the stronger will be 
the impulse. Indeed the new fact is not 
cornpletely his till he has found a place for 
it in his mind. Paul himself, with his 
acute and massive intellect, shared and 
could not but share this impulse. So far 
is he from despising philosophy that he 
himself in other epistles, and even in parts 
of this one, throws out suggestions and 
more than suggestions towards a theo- 
logical system. It would be too much to 
say that he actually constructs a scheme ; 
but the impulse is always there and we 
often meet with more or less highly de- 
veloped theological arguments (cf. xv; 
Rom : Gal. iii. f.). 

What Paul is here rebuking and ridicul- 
ing is the superficial a-o0t'a of the Corin- 
thians. Their Christian experience is as 
yet very slender. There is jealousy and 
strife among them (i. 11) and they "are 
yet carnal" (iii. 3). They were only 
"babes in Christ" (iii. i) who had to be 
fed with milk, not with meat : " for ye 
were not able to bear it; nay, not even now 
are ye able" (iii, 2). The theology that 
rises out of such a religious experience is 
not likely to be a very profound one : yet 
the Corinthians were moved by the irre- 
pressible Greek instinct to reduce their new 
religion to the terms of philosophy. This 
is the real point of Paul's repeated allu- 
sions to Greek " wisdom :" in character- 
izing the message he has to proclaim as 
" foolishness," there is a certain mock hu- 
mility. Elsewhere in this epistle, notably 
in iv. 10, Paul gives to his words an ironi- 
cal point. 

Reading between the lines we get a 
glimpse, in this section, into the difficulties 
under which Paul worked. The cross was 
to him the core of his messag'e ; but it was 
infinitely hard to find a place for it either 
in the Greek or the Jewish mind, ihere 
was no room for it either in Jewish hopes 
or in Greek philosophy ; yet it was only 
through belief in this " ioolish message " 
that men could be saved (ver. 21). Often 
and long must Paul have argued for the 
cross against Jewish obstinacy and Greek 
conceit — sometimes, unsuccessfully, some- 
times with success ; for among '' those that 
were called were both Jews and Greeks" 
( ver. 24). * 



18 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. I 



€6 For ye see your calling, brethren, 
how that not many wise men after the 
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, 
are called: 

27 But God hath chosen the foolish 
things of the world to confound the wise ; 
and God hath chosen the weak things of 
the world to confound the things which 
are mighty; 



28 And base things of the world, and 
things which are despised, hath God chosen, 
yea, and things which are not, to bring 
to nought things that are : 

29 That no flesh should glory in his 
presence. 

30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, 
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and 



The Recipients of the Gospel Call (i. 
26-30) . 

26. To illustrate still further the nature 
of his gospel, Paul turns abruptly to his 
readers whom, with earnest courtesy, he 
addresses as brethren, and by a skilful per- 
sonal appeal — look at YOUR calling — he 
reminds them of the lowly place they oc- 
cupied, for the most part, in Corinthian 
society, and of the essential simplicity of 
a gospel which could appeal to, and win, 
guch men. Not many of you are philos- 
ophers (literally, wise according to the 
Hcsh, that is, in the world's sense), nor 
are there many influential people among 
you, nor many well born. The sentence 
is elliptical: either eKXridTjaav (were called), 
or perhaps more pointedly ^are (ye are), 
has to be supplied. The calling is of 
course to the Christian life (cf. i. 2). 
Paul is speaking here of the Corinthian 
church (your calling), but the remark 
would no doubt be applicable to the early 
Christian church generally. It is not im- 
plied, however, that that church was com- 
posed exclusively of the humbler elements 
of the population : there were some men 
of culture, influence, and birth among her 
members, but not many. These would be 
the classes most difficult to attract by the 
story of the cross. Some idea of the com- 
position of the church may be inferred 
from the proper names that occur in the 
epistle; for example, Fortunatus, Achaicus, 
Gains, names which " probably indicate 
freedmen." There would in all likelihood 
be many freedmen and some slaves. Here 
again, as in ver. 24, it is worth while to 
note the rhythmic repetition (not many) 
three times, a feature still more marked 
in the threefold repetition in the next 
two verses, and- which invests the state- 
ments with a certain solemnity. 

27, 28. Not many of those in high place 
were called : on the contrary, it was the 
world's foolish things that God selected, 
when He chose you, and the reason of I lis 
choice was that He might shame the 
so-called v/ise men, and it was the world's 
feeble things that God selected, that He 



might shame the strong things, and it 
was the things of the world that were 
low and of no account that God selected, 
the things that were as good as non- 
existent (not TO. ovK bvTa : they did actually 
exist, but they were as if they did not exist, 
hence ra /xr) bvTa) that he might bring 
down the things that exist to nothing. 
Here are three very deliberate statements, 
which accurately correspond to the three 
types alluded to in ver. 26 — the wise, the 
powerful, and the highborn. The impres- 
sive repetition of the words God chose is 
well calculated to call attention to the 
paradox of the divine method. God's ways 
are not our ways : the divine standards and 
methods are the antipodes of the human. 
It is the foolish, the feeble, the obscure, 
that are the peculiar objects of the divine 
choice. The neuter form of the adjectives 
(rd Aiwpd, TO. dcdevri, etc.) gives an imper- 
sonal turn to the whole sentence, which 
thus becomes a statement of the general 
principles of the divine operation : but the 
statement is suggested to Paul's mind by 
the Corinthian situation, and, though in 
form impersonal, it is in reality, personal : 
He selected the foolish things that He 
might shame the wise men {rovs aocpovs). 
His choice of the foolish was the most 
effective way of shaming the wise (*»'«) : 
their wisdom did not commend them to 
Him (cf. a similar utterance of our Lord 
in Mat. xi. 25). The method of the divine 
choice changes the aspect of the world : 
the things that are {to. ovra), the things 
which seem to have solidity and reality, 
it not only puts to shame, but annihilates. 
It is perhaps not unfair to see a fine irony 
in this ringing of the changes on the phi- 
losophical phrases ^d bura and to. firj opra. 

29. The ultimate object of this strange 
choice of God is that in His presence 
there be no glorying on the part of any 
mortal man. Man is but Ucsli. frail and 
sinful ; the wisdom and the power, in which 
he glories, give him no standing in the 
sight of God who ignores these things in 
His choice of men, that there be no place 
for boasting. 

30. Any standing that wc have, there- 



€h. I] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



19 



righteousness, and sanctification, and re- 
demption : 



31 That, according as it is written, He 
that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 



fore, we owe to Him, not to anything that 
we, of ourselves, are or have or know ; 
and the only standing for which the 
Christian greatly cares is that which he 
has in Christ. Consequently you owe it 
to Him (God), says Paul to the Corin- 
thians, that you are in union with Christ 
Jesus. It is also possible to translate : 
from Him ye are, or have your being, 
that is, ye are His children — in Christ. 
But the context, which throws its stress 
repeatedly upon the work of God, makes 
the former translation the more probable : 
it is from God, i.e. by His origination, that 
you {vjxeis^ emphatic, the obscure Corin- 
thians) are in Christ. Nothing but the 
power and the goodness of God could have 
brought such as they into that blessed com- 
munion. Blessed indeed! for what have 
we not in Him? For He, by the gracious 
purpose of God, o-irb Qeov, from God as 
origin) became (or was made) Wisdom 
to us. 

In a few trenchant words, Paul is about 
to bring the discussion to a close. The 
divine <To<pia (wisdom) which he has been 
discussing is completed, gathered up and 
presented to Christians (not only to you, 
iifxels of the first clause, but to us, Vf^^^) 
in the historical figure (iyevridr] aor.) of 
Christ Jesus : in Him can be read the mind 
and the purpose of God. This wisdom 
which is incarnate in Christ, manifests 
itself especially in two ways, as Justifica- 
tion-and-Sanctification, which, connected 
by T€ Kai^ (both-and) are to be considered 
in close combination, and also complete 
Redemption. These three substantives are 
better taken as explanatory of o-o0ta than 
as co-ordinate with it. Through Christ, who 
is the embodiment of God's wise purpose, 
comes diKaLoavvT]^ which blends the meanings 
of justification and righteousness: in Him we 
are justified and regarded as ideally right- 
eous. Intimately connected with this is 
ayiaafios, sanctification, separation to a holy 
life (cf. i. 2). The last term dTroXurpwo-ts, is 
the most comprehensive of all, redemption in 
the largest sense, ransom {XvTpov) from 
(dTTo) sin and misery, deliverance from 
sin and death and ultimate entrance into 
glory. Jesus Christ did not merely bring 
these things to us : He incarnates them 
(os iyevrjerj), and they are ours in Him. 

31. Of ourselves, then, we are nothing. 
What we have — our acquittal, our holiness, 
our redemption — we have only in Christ, 
and this standing in Him we owe to God 



(e| avTov). Clearly, then, there is no room 
for boasting ; and the final purpose of God 
in bringing us into this blessed and fruit- 
ful union with Christ is that, as it stands 
in Scripture (Jer. ix. 24), he who glories 
should glory in the Lord. The grammar 
is somewhat irregular : as tVa cannot go 
directly with the imperative, we may as- 
sume an ellipse: that (it might be or come 
to pass), as the Scripture has it, "Let him 
that glorieth, glory in the Lord." (In 
LXX, as in the Hebrew of Jer. ix. 24, 
ev rovTio^ in this, that . . . ). It is diffi- 
cult to determine precisely here whether by 
the Lord Paul means Christ or God. The 
word is equally applicable to both, and 
only the context can decide. The imme- 
diate context, however, has given great 
prominence to both. On the one hand, it 
is God who chooses men, and " it is of Him 
that ye are in Christ;" on the other hand, 
Christ is the divine wisdom, and redemp- 
tion ; it is His cross that saves, and into 
His name that we are baptized. The point 
is not of great importance : for whether the 
Lord be Christ or God, at any rate it is in 
one or other of these that we are to glory, 
and not in men or in earthly distinctions. 
The Corinthians, with their hero-worship 
of Paul, ApoUos, and Peter, and with their 
tendency to excessive regard for wisdom, 
influence, and high birth (vv. 27 f.), had 
forgotten this. This quotation is more than 
usually appropriate. The original passage 
in Jeremiah furnishes the very same con- 
trast, and almost in the very same terms, 
as Paul's admonition here. " Let not the 
wise man (0 <jo<p6s) glory in his wisdom (e*' 
TTj aocpia avTov) neither let the mighty man 
(6 iaxvpos) glory in his might, nor let the 
rich man glory in his riches." 



This section (vv. 26-31) serves the 
double purpose of illustrating the principle 
that governs the divine choice of men, and 
of rebuking the conceit of the Corinthians. 
God does not choose those who stand high 
as tried by the standards of the world : 
the very reverse. He chooses the foolish, 
the feeble, the base-born : and such — 
Paul very plainly hints — were most of 
them. Had His choice fallen upon the 
wise, the influential, the high-born, then 
not many of them would have been so 
honored. He thus forces them back, in a 
spirit very similar to that of Jeremiah, to 
a recognition of their own utter insig- 



20 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. II 



CHAPTER 2. 

■ I And I, brethren, when I came to you, 
came not with excellency of speech or of 
wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony 
of God. 
2 For I determined not to know any 



thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and 
him crucified. 

3 And I was with you in weakness, 
and in fear, and in much trembling. 

4 And my speech and my preaching 
was not with enticing words of man's wis- 
dom, but in demonstration of the Spirit 
and of power : 



nificance — they were ^a firj 'dpra^ as good 
as non-existent — forces them to recognize 
that, for the marvel of their redemption, 
they are altogether indebted to God in 
Christ. Thus boasting is excluded, ?ind hu- 
mility is the only true wisdom. 



Paul's Manner of Preaching at Corinth (ii. 

1-5). 

1. Paul has just been urging upon the 
Corinthians the recognition of their own 
utter insignificance, and the wisdom of 
glorying in the Lord alone. This, he 
goes on to say, has been his own practice. 
He preached under an overwhelming sense 
of his own weakness, and he made no ef- 
fort to commend his message to his au- 
diences by rhetorical (\6yov) or philo- 
sophical (o-o0tas) devices. As for me, 
brethren — note again the courteous ad- 
dress (i. 10, ii) — whatever may have 
been the practice of others — when I came 
to you, I came — the repetition concen- 
trates attention forcibly upon his arrival — 
proclaiming the gospel, which he here 
calls the testimony of God, as in i. 6, he 
had called it the testimony of_ Christ, 
simply and not with any striking rhe- 
torical or philosophical display, ixaprvpiov 
seems better than fivarriptov, which may 
have crept in from ver. 7. The fx-apTvpiov 
Toil deov^ is probably the testimony to God, 
that is, to His purpose in Christ — in short, 
the gospel. 

2. Doubtless, had Paul used these 
devices which he despised, his message 
would at first have commended itself to 
a wider circle of Corinthans; but his 
refusal to avail himself of them was part 
of a deliberate purpose. Perhaps his ex- 
perience at Athens from which he had 
come (Acts xviii. i) had contributed to 
this: it may also partly explain his fear 
and trembVuiii,. For I did not decide to 
know anything among you, except Jesus 
Christ, and Him too — though I knew 
well how great the offence would be — 
as crucified. There is a slight, but ap- 
preciable difference, between " I decided 
not to know " and " I did not decide to 



know." The C-orinthians, with their argu- 
mentative instincts, are fond of airing their 
own knowledge (cf. viii. i) and of meet- 
ing any one who claimed. " to have some 
knowledge " {eiUpai n) : Paul resolves 
that, at any rate so long as he is among 
them (ep vfiiv) he will severely restrict his 
knowledge to one theme. Not only will he 
preach about nothing else ; but, for the 
time being, nothing else will be in his mind. 
The theme that fills it is Jesus Christ. 
He will not let his speech among the Co- 
rinthians drift into abstractions : it will be 
glowingly personal, gathered about the per- 
son Jesus who to him is the Messiah, 
Christ. In particular will it gather about 
that fact in the career of Jesus which was 
central — His crucifixion. Such a gospel 
would be anything but popular among 
Greeks — salvation by one who had died 
a malefactor's death (i. 23) — but that is 
the fact which Paul will supremely and 
continually hold both before his own mind 
and theirs. 

3, 4. He is fully conscious, not only of 
the unpopularity of the message, but of 
the insufiiciency of the preacher. As for 
me, it was in weakness and in fear, a 
fear so great as to result in much trem- 
bling, that I came before you (ver. 3). 
Here we get an interesting glimpse into 
Paul's public appearance: he was just the 
very reverse of the cool, self-confident, 
ready orator. On the contrary, he was 
overcome by a sense of his feebleness, in 
the face of the mighty task that devolved 
upon him as a preacher of Jesus Christ : 
he had a sense of terror which expressed 
itself in violent trembling. And, tried by 
Corinthian standards, his speech was as 
feeble as himself (cf. 2 Cor. x. 10. xi. 6) : 
my speech, and in particular my message, 
did not consist in plausible words of 
philosophy. There was no n'isdom in it, 
no such perstiasiz'e power, as the Greek 
mind delighted in. But here again we may" 
suspect a little touch of irony: for though 
his preaching lacked these elements which 
the Greeks thought so important, yet its 
real power was incontrovertihly attested 
by its (miraculous, cf. 2 Cor. xii. 12) effects, 
for it came in the shape of eft'ects wrought 



Ch. II] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



21 



5 That your faith should not stand in 
the wisdom of men, but in the power of 
God. 

6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among 
them that are perfect : yet not the wisdom 
of this world, nor of the princes of this 
world, that come to nought : 



7 But we speak the wisdom of God in 
a mystery, even the hidden li'isdom, which 
God ordained before the world unto our 
glory ; 

8 Which none of the princes of this 
world knew : for had they known it, they 
would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 



upon the lives of his hearers, positive ex- 
perimental proof, which could only come 
from the divine spirit and the divine 
power. His words were not merely 
plausible, they were effective, because the 
spirit was behind them. His proofs were 
not skilful arguments, but living facts. 

5. So the *' weak, timid, trembling " Paul 
(ver. 3) turns out to be the mighty 
preacher. But his might is not his own: 
it is of the spirit (ver. 4), of God (ver. 5) ; 
and the divine purpose (tW) in choosing 
this man — or, it may be, his purpose in 
preaching as he did — was that your faith 
should not rest in the wisdom of men, 
but in the power of God. A faith which 
is to exist unshaken must not be built upon 
a clever argument, but on an appreciation 
of the demonstrated (d7ro5et'|et) power of 
God. It is God, by His power, and not 
man, by his eloquence or philosophy, that 
saves the soul. 

Paul offers himself here as an illustration 
of the truth that God does his mighty work 
through feeble instruments and by un- 
worldly means. 



The Philosophy of the Gospel (ii. 6-9). 

6. Some of Paul's words have conveyed 
the impression that he cared only for 
facts, especially for the Fact of Christ as 
Crucified, and refused to be drawn into the 
temptation of regarding the gospel on what 
we may call its philosophical side (i. 17, ii. 
I, 4) — as a cro(pia. As we have already 
seen (p. 17) that could hardly have been 
his meaning ; besides, other expressions look 
the other way — Christ, for example, is 
called wisdom (i. 30) and God's wisdom 
(i. 24). He has, then, a philosophy after 
all, which is intelligible, however, only to 
the initiated. Faith must not indeed rest 
in human philosophy (iv aocpla dvOpiovcov) ; 
but there is another philosophy, the apos- 
tle goes on, a wisdom, wdiich we (he and 
his fellow preachers) utter, not indeed 
indiscriminately, or before all kinds of 
audiences, but only among those who are 
spiritually mature, those who are not babes 
(iii. i) but are grown to their full Chris- 
tian stature : or the word (reXei'ots) so near 



fxvarrrjpiu) m ver. 7, may be intended to sug- 
gest " those who are initiated into the Chris- 
tian mystery." 

This wisdom, however, is not of this 
world (lit. of this age) : it does not share 
the temper and spirit of this age, whose 
values are in terms of things transitory 
and external (i. 26) ; nor is it a wisdom 
of the rulers of this world. Those wha 
are in high place, and who ought to knozv 
(cf. ver. 8, eypwaav) best, made the most 
ghastly mistake of all (ver. 8). The 
rulers of this world might conceivably be 
angels, whom later Jewish belief (cf. Dan. 
x-xii) regarded as presiding over the na- 
tions. But, without further explanation, 
it is more probable that, like the apxovres 
of Romans xiii. 3, they are men, especially 
as their wisdom corresponds to the wns- 
dom of men in the preceding verse, and 
the very same phrase, " the rulers of this 
world," is used in ver. 8 of those who cru- 
cified Jesus. The same word, ol dpxovres^ 
avTuv^ is used in Acts xiii. 27 of the Jewish 
rulers who compassed Jesus' death. The 
similarity of this passage — where the 
rulers act dyuorjcrauTes^ in ignorance — with 
I Cor. ii. 8 where it is said that they did 
not know {ovdels eyvc^Kev) puts it practically 
beyond doubt that the rulers of this world 
are earthly rulers, not angelic or demonic. 
In general, it refers to the wise, influential, 
and high-born (i. 26) : in particular, es- 
pecially in ver. 8, to men like Pilate and 
the high priest. 

It was not such a wisdom that Paul pro- 
claimed. The men, like their wisdom, were 
ephemeral, men who are being brought to 
nought: in the progressive march of the 
divine purpose, they are gradually but 
surely dislodged and replaced by the men 
of another type whom they despise, but 
whom God has chosen (i. 28). The use of 
the same verb here as in i. 28 (Karapyeh) 
strengthens the probability of the inter- 
pretation given above. Caiaphas, Pilate, 
Herod — this type of man is dying or 
doomed. 

7, 8. But it is not that sort of wisdom, 
not a human wisdom at all (ver. 5), says 
Paul, but a divine wisdom, God's wis- 
dom (deov emphatic) that we utter; and 
this we do in the form of a mystery^ 



22 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. II 



9 But as it is written, Eye hath not 
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered 
into the heart of man, the things which 
God hath prepared for them that love him. 



10 But God hath revealed them unto 
us by his Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth 
all things, yea, the deep things of God. 

11 For what man knoweth the things 



which, in Biblical usage, does not mean 
an obscure or enigmatic fact, but a truth 
which is only known because it is revealed 
(Rom. xvi. 25 f. ). For this wisdom is 
one which has been lying (perf. ptc.) 
for ages (cf. Rom. xvi. 25) in conceal- 
ment. In contrast with the futile and 
transitory wisdom of the rulers of this 
world, this is a wisdom deep-rooted in 
the ancient purpose of God, one which 
God foreordained before the ages, and 
its ultimate aim (e's) is our glory. This 
is not the heavenly glory exclusively: it 
includes the state which, here and now, is 
ours in Christ (i. 30), all that marvel- 
lous experience which is the lot of those 
who love Him (ii. 9) : it is admirably 
illustrated by iii. 21, 22. Only such as 
these can understand this divine and an- 
cient wisdom : it is a wisdom which (^j' 
goes with £ro0iar, not with dS^av) none of 
the rulers of this world (cf. ver. 6) has 
any idea of (lit. has come to know) : for 
it was their ignorance of it that led them 
to crucify the Lord of glory. What a 
deadly ignorance of the divine purpose 
must that have been which led the men in 
authority, who ought to have been the 
wisest, to perpetrate a deed so awful as to 
put the Lord to the death of a slave, to 
put the glorious Lord to the ignominious 
death of crucifixion ! The Lord of Glory 
is the Lord whose characteristic is glory, 
though that glory came in so humble a 
guise that it was hidden from the eyes of 
the world's " wise " men. As the Lord of 
glory, He is the guarantee of our glory 
(86^a i)fiu)v^ ver. 7). 

9. The construction of ver. 9 is not cer- 
tain. " The things which eye saw not " 
are governed (a) either by an implicit "we 
speak," carried over from vv. 6, 7, or (b) 
by " God revealed " in ver. 10. The latter 
construction is only possible if in ver. 10 
we read 5e' (which would then introduce 
the apodosis) instead of T^P, which appears 
to be more correct. Probably, therefore, 
ver. 10 begins a new sentence, and ver. 
9 goes with and concludes the preceding 
paragraph. The meaning will then be: 
but, in the words of Scripture, we utter 
things which no eye saw and no ear 
heard and no human mind conceived, 
even all the things that God, in accord- 
ance with His ancient purpose (ver. 7), 
prepared, not indeed for the whole world, 



believers and unbelievers alike, but for 
those that love Him. No Old Testa- 
ment passage exactly corresponds to the 
words here cited, and it is tempting to 
accept the tradition, attested by Origen 
and Jerome, that the reference is to a lost 
Apocalypse of Elijah. But it is equally 
possible to assume that we have simply a 
loose quotation from memory combining 
elements of Isaiah Ixiv, 4 and Ixv. 16, 17. 
These things which God has prepared and 
which constitute the theme of Paul's 
preaching, belong as much to the present 
as to the future : they constitute the un- 
imaginable blessings which are ours " in 
Christ." 

Paul has, then, his philosophy after all, 
and one infinitely profounder than any wis- 
dom of this world. Beneath his simple 
and unadorned speech lies the deepest of 
all mysteries, which takes its origin in an 
ancient purpose of God, and which has for 
its end our glory. When that purpose be- 
came incarnate in Jesus, the world's great 
men tragically failed to understand it : no 
merely human sense {e.g. eye, ear) or in- 
tellect can fathom it. How then can it be 
known at all? To that question Paul ad- 
dresses himself in the next section. 

The Need of Revelation by the Divine 
Spirit (ii. lo-iii. 2). 

10. It can only be known by revelation. 
For {yap rather than 5e) to us, not to the 
rulers (vv. 6, 8), but to Paul and those 
who are spirituallv mature (reXeioi, ver. 6) 
like him, God REVEALED it (the wisdom, 
or the things, a. \er. g). Such knowledge 
can only be the result of a divine revela- 
tion. How then is that effected ? Through 
the spirit — the spirit of God, no doubt, 
though probably it is better to omit the 
avTov. Nothing is hid from it. for the 
divine spirit moves everywhere (Ps. 
cxxxix) and searches everything, even 
the deep things of God; therefore it alone 
can connnunicatc to men the profound pur- 
poses of God, which have their center and 
realization in Christ (ver. 16). 

11. To illustrate this, says Paul, let us 
take a human analogy — note the three- 
fold rei)etition in this verse of the word 
mail. For among men, who has any 
knowledge of the inner experiences of 



Ch. II] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



23 



of a man, save the spirit of man which 
is in him? even so the things of God 
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 

12 Now we have received, not the spirit 
of the world, but the Spirit which is of 
God ; that we might know the things that 
are freely given to us of God. 

13 Which things also we speak, not 



in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, 
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth ; com- 
paring spiritual things with spiritual. 

14 But the natural man receiveth not 
the things of the Spirit of God: for they 
are foolishness unto him : neither can he 
know them, because they are spiritually 
discerned. 



another? (lit. the things of the man in 
question). All the phenomena of a man's 
inner life, his purposes, aspirations, etc., 
are unknown, and can only be the object 
of conjecture, until he reveals them: they 
are known to no one except to the spirit 
that is resident in the man himself. Ex- 
actly so is it with God. No one has ac- 
quired any insight (lit. has come to know) 
into the things of God generally, to say 
nothing of the deep things (ver. 10) ex- 
cept the spirit of God. He apparently 
avoids deliberately the phrase " the spirit 
that is in God :" this might suggest rnerely 
the divine self-consciousness, and that he 
means something more than this by the 
spirit is plain from ver. 12, where he de- 
scribes it as the spirit that proceeds from 
God. 

12. God's purpose, then, if it is to be 
known, must be communicated : and if 
Paul understands this divine philosophy, it 
is because he has received the spirit. Now 
as for us, (cf. viJ-'^-v, ver. 10) it was not 
the worldly spirit that we received, when 
we became Christ's, but the spirit that 
proceeds from God. It is this spirit that 
brings assurance and illumination : it is 
given that we might know the favors 
that God conferred upon us in Christ, that 
is,^ the things alluded to in ver. 9, and 
summed up in the word *' glory " (ver. 7). 
The spirit of the world is the spirit of the 
worldly wise and influential, to whom the 
cross is foolishness ; it is practically equal 
to the worldly spirit. Obviously this can 
throw no light upon the purposes and gifts 
of God, but only the spirit of God Him- 
self. 

13. Paul is anxious to disclaim all 
thought that this wisdom is of a really 
esoteric kind : he is not afraid or unwill- 
ing to proclaim it. The blessings conferred 
by God in Christ are things which we also 
utter — and again comes the now familiar 
contrast between the divine and the human 
— in words not taught by human wis- 
dom, but taught by the divine spirit. 
Not only are the thoughts which he utters 
in speaking and preaching (X670S, Kripvy/j-a, 
ver. 4) inspired by the spirit, but even the 
very words. The bold claim which he here 



makes, and which must be interpreted in 
the spirit rather than in the letter, shows 
how overwhelming was his consciousness 
of the divine presence. The following- 
phrase TTvev/uLaTLK-ols (or-ws) TTpevfxaTLKa. 
avvKpivovTes is somewhat difficult to inter- 
pret. Does (TvvKpivw mean combine, com- 
pare, or interpret? and is irvevfiaTLKols^ if 
this be read, masc. or neut. ? Probably 
neut., as this verse deals with the theme 
of the preaching — the persons are not men- 
tioned till ver. 14. In that case, it seems 
best to translate avvKp, by combining: the 
two wvev/xaTLKa which are combined 
are the thoughts and the words — both, 
as he has just been saying, are in- 
spired by the spirit : therefore " we utter 
these things, combining spiritual ideas 
with spiritual language." It is impossible 
to reproduce in English the extraordinary 
emphasis produced by the juxtaposition of 
the three words implying spirit — irvev/xaTos^ 
TTvevfiaTLKoIs^ irvevixariKd, The truth for 
which Paul is pleading, that the Christian 
wisdom is a revelation communicated by 
the spirit, is gathered up here with over- 
whelming force. 

14. Now a natural man is not recep- 
tive of the things of the spirit of God. 
^Pi'X'/^'os dvOpcoTros, the psychic man, is a 
strange expression. It is used in the 
New Testament to denote the man who 
has only a i^vxv (soul) but no Trvevfia 
(spirit). Of course, in one sense, every 
man has a irvevfia (cf. ver. 12) : but where 
it is untouched and unilluminated by the 
divine spirit, it is as good as non-exist- 
ent (cf. Jude ver. 19, where certain men 
are described as psychic, not having -n-vev^a^ 
having soul, but no spirit). In that case, 
the man's non-physical life can only express 
itself through his i^^xv, soul. The soul is 
not necessarily bad, but it represents the 
unpurified natural affections, the earthly as 
opposed to the heavenly, the natural as 
opposed to the spiritual and supernatural. 
Such a man, obviously, does not ivelcome 
the things of the divine spirit, he has no 
appreciation of them, for to him they are 
folly, and he can attain no knowledge 
of them, for the simple reason that the 
test of them is a spiritual one, and hav- 



24 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. Ill 



15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all 
things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 

16 For who hath known the mind of 
the Lord, that he may instruct him? But 
■we have the mind of Christ. 



CHAPTER 3. 
I And I, brethren, could not speak unto 



you as unto spiritual, hut as unto carnal, 
even as unto babes in Christ. 

2 I have fed you with milk, and not 
with meat : for hitherto ye were not able 
to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 

3 For ye are yet carnal : for whereas 
there is among you envying, and strife, 
and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk 
as men ? 



ing no spiritual illumination, he lacks the 
faculty to test them. 

15. The spiritual man, on the other 
hand, who possesses this faculty, has the 
test for everything. There is a whole 
world of experience sealed to the " psychic " 
man, but familiar to him : but besides, in 
virtue of his spiritual illumination, he can 
estimate not only these things, but all 
things at their proper value. This very 
epistle, with its many exhibitions of Paul's 
versatility and tact in dealing with various 
and delicate problems, is an excellent illus- 
tration of the power he here claims for 
the spiritual man. But while the spiritual 
man tests everything, he is not himself 
capable of being tested by any one who 
is not spiritual. The Corinthians have 
been criticizing Paul (iv. 3, ix. 3) ; he 
here gently hints that, so long as they re- 
main unspiritual, they lack the power to 
understand him, and their criticisms can 
amount to -nothing. 

16. Paul clenches his point here, as 
often, by a quotation from the Old Testa- 
ment (Isaiah xl. 13), though he does not 
introduce it with a (Kadws) yeypairTat, (i. 31, 
19). To judge the spiritual man ade- 
quately, one must oneself be spiritual, that 
is, be in possession of the spirit of God 
(ver. 11), and this can be said of no 
merely " psychic " man. The spiritual man 
is therefore beyond the range of his crit- 
icisms: for, in the words of Isaiah, who 
(that is, no mere man) ever knew (aor.) 
the mind of the Lord? NoOs not improp- 
erly translates the Hebrew word for spirit; 
it is the spirit on its intellectual side. 
But WE (vfiels emphatic) are in posses- 
sion of the spirit of the Lord, or as he here 
calls it, the mind of Christ. In Isaiah, 
the Lord is of course God ; the easy sub- 
stitution of Christ for the Lord in the sec- 
ond clause, shows how closely, for Paul, 
Christ and God were identified (cf. i. 3) 

iii. I, 2. Paul would only have been too 
glad to have expounded to the Corinthians 
the " mystery " of " the wisdom of God :" 
but to men in such a condition as theirs, 
the thing was simply impossible. And I 
for my part, brethren, he continues, could 



not speak to you as to spiritual men, 

for you were nothing of the kind : on the 
contrary, I was obliged to address you 
as men of flesh, as babes in Christ. The 
Corinthians were Christians, they were in 
Christ; but they had made no progress 
toward spiritual maturity (ii. 6), they 
were still babes, as he tenderly (cf. brethren, 
ver. i) and somewhat excusingly calls 
them. They were — not indeed psychic, 
natural men (ii. 14) — but practically on 
the same level, in so far as they were in- 
capable (ovK edvvaade^ ver. 2) of a truly 
spiritual appreciation. They were, in a 
word, odpKivoL^ men of fl.esh, men whose 
nature is fleshly, slightly different from 
capKLKoL of ver. 3, of fleshly instincts and 
tendencies, carnal. And since you were 
babes, it was with milk that I fed you, 
not with solid food, for you were not yet 
strong enough (ver. 2). For a similar 
idea, cf. Hebrews v. 12-vi. 2. There is 
nothing esoteric in Christianity, but the 
presentation of it has to be adapted to 
the capacities of those who are taught. 
He was not able {o^k ■f}5vvr]d7]v) because 
they were not able {ovk idvvaade). 

Without sympathy, all criticism is wide 
of the mark. This is the general truth, 
which Paul here applies with great force 
to the specific truths of Christianity. What 
he calls "the things of the' spirit" can 
only be understood and interpreted by one 
who himself has the spirit, that is by one 
who has been enlightened. Now the Co- 
rinthians, though they were Christians (cf. 
ver. i) because they had believed 
(eTTio-rei-craTe, ver. 5) had not yet (avwu)) 
reached this stage. Where the impediment 
lay, we see in the following section. 



Tlie Carnality of Partisanship: the Whole 

Church is God's, her Leaders but His 

Serz'ants (iii. 3-9)- 

3. When I was with you, says the Apos- 
tle, you were not strong enough for the 
solid food I was prepared to give, and 
your present dissensions show that the 



€h. Ill] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



25 



4 For while one saith, I am of Paul ; 
and another, I am of ApoUos; are ye not 
carnal ? 

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apol- 
los, but ministers by whom ye believed, 
even as the Lord gave to every man? 

6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but 
God gave the increase. 



7 So then neither is he that planteth 
any thing, neither he that watereth; but 
God that giveth the increase. 

8 Now he that planteth and he that 
watereth are one : and every man shall re- 
ceive his own reward according to his own 
labour. 



case is no better to-day. Why, even at 
this moment you are not strong enough, 
for you are carnal still. The context 
shows that this word has a wide scope. 
It is not confined to sexual, or even to 
sensual sins, but covers those tempers and 
dispositions that express themselves in 
strife and dissension. Their carnality was 
undeniable : for where there is among 
you emulation or jealousy, and the strife 
to which it too surely leads, are ye not 
carnal? are ye not leading your lives 
(lit. walking) after the fashion of unen- 
lightened men? After strife, some MSS. 
wrongly add " and divisions " (Kal 
dLxodTaaiai) , following Gal. v. 20. The 
metaphor of walking applied to a way of 
life, is very frequent in the Bible, and 
was very natural to an Oriental. 

4, 5. Paul at once proceeds with a con- 
crete illustration of the strife which proves 
their carnality. I mean, When one says, 
** I belong to Paul," and another, " I' 
to Apollos," are you not moving on a 
purely human, unenlightened plane? (ver. 
4). He does not here add Peter, as in 
i. 12, iii. 22 : his own name and that of 
Apollos would naturally be the most fa- 
miliar, and the alleged differences between 
them would be the chief cause of strife. 
What then, he asks with rising emotion, 
is Apollos? What, neuter, rt, much more 
effective then ris, who : cf . eV, ver. 8 ; what 
is there in Apollos or Paul? The question 
is dramatically repeated: and what is 
Paul? Not, what am IF He repeats their 
party word. Ministers, he answers with 
emphasis, — and not heads of parties : sim- 
ply lowly servants, by whose agency ye 
became believers (eTrtcrreuo-are aorist, ap- 
propriately of the initial act of belief). 
Clearly, then, some had been converted 
through Apollos. Bengel happily com- 
ments : through whom, not in whom ye 
believed: they are but agents, not objects 
of faith. And each ministered, according 
as the Lord (whether Christ, or perhaps 
God : cf . ver. 9 and especially v. 10 : and 
for similar doubt cf. i. 31) endowed him. 

6. That these men are but ministers, 
and their powers but gifts, is illustrated 
by the following verse : It was I (^7^ 



emphatic) who planted, it was Apollos 
who watered. The Corinthian church is 
implicitly compared to a garden or a field 
(cf. ver. 9) and Paul does not deny the 
place of human agency in its cultivation, 
for God works through (8Ld^ ver. 5) men; 
nay, the human agents are organized and 
differentiated, as planters and waterers. 
But all this human effort would result 
in nothing, were it not for the mysterious 
divine power behind it ; it was no man, 
but God Himself who all the time (impf.) 
was causing it to grow. The difference 
between the aorist and the .imperfect is 
here aptly illustrated : the work of Paul 
and Apollos is represented as an act, that 
of God as a continuous process. Paul's 
generous reference to Apollos here, as fol- 
lowing up the work which he himself had 
begun, is a delicate rebuke of the Corin- 
thian party spirit, which set them up as 
rivals. 

7, 8. So then, if the real growth is 
due to that subtle underlying power of 
God, without which planting and watering 
would alike be useless, the human agents 
may be said, in one aspect, not to count at 
all: neither planter nor waterer is any- 
thing whatever: on the contrary it is 
God, who causes the growth, that is all 
in all (ver. 7). These last words must be 
supplied : the meaning must be, not that 
God is something (rt) but that He is 
everything. Still, though this is true, and 
all Christian work is swallowed up in the 
one (ei') service of the one God, individuals 
do count after all, and their work as in- 
dividuals will be duly recognized and re- 
warded. Now planter and waterer are 
one, ^p, neuter, as if, in their capacity as 
God's servants, their personality was lost: 
they are, as it were, one in service, one 
instrumentality. Again, they are one, not 
therefore rivals, as the Corinthians had 
been representing them. Paul's words 
might be conceivably taken as a deprecia- 
tion of the individual, but the last clause 
of ver. 9 effectually removes all possibility 
of misapprehension ; and the whole of the 
next section (vv. 10-15) is an eloquent plea 
for personal responsibility. Though God 
is everything, the individual is something, 



26 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. Ill 



9 For we are labourers together with 
God : ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's 
building. 

10 According to the grace of God which 
is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, 



I have laid the foundation, and another 
buildeth thereon. But let every man take 
heed how he buildeth thereupon. 

II For other foundation can no man 
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 



yea, very much : and each man shall re- 
ceive his own proper reward for his own 
proper toil. This verse, with its double 
Ibiov effectively reinstates the individual. 
An ancient commentator, noting that the 
apostle uses kottov^ toil, not e/3701', work, 
quaintly remarks: "and what if he did not 
finish the work? at any rate he toiled." 

9. This truth of the relative importance 
of the individual is, however, after all, 
at this stage, only subsidiary : the point 
which Paul is mainly concerned to drive 
home is that all the church, members and 
leaders alike, are God's, and therefore that 
all disposition to partisanship should vanish 
before this great unity. For it is GOD'S 
fellow workers that we are: it is GOD'S 
field, GOD'S building that you are. In all 
three clauses, ©eoCi, as first word, is very 
emphatic. This is the real shame of the 
party spirit, that they are all God's : as 
God's, they must be one. There must be 
no factions : planter and waterer are " fel- 
/ow-workers " i^ow') — not rivals, as the 
Corinthians seemed to think ; and they were 
God's workers — therefore, in any case, one 
in Him. The meaning is not, " fellow- 
workers with God," but belonging to God. 
The church has already been described by 
implication as a field (vv. 6-8), in the next 
section (vv. 10-16) it is described as a 
building ; the last clauses of ver. 9 sum- 
marize the one section and introduce the 
other. 



The unspiritual nature of the Corin- 
thians is shown by their church divisions, 
and these again rest on an inadequate ap- 
preciation of the fact that the church is 
God's, and her leaders but His ministers. 
The unity, which is threatened, will be as- 
sured, when that is understood. 



The Responsibility of the Church's Leaders 
(iii. 10-15). 

10. Paul now works out with some 
elaboration the idea of the church as a 
building, to which he has been led by the 
last words of ver. 9. There is but one 
building — God's, and one foundation — 
Jesus Christ : but the builders are many 
(ver. 11), and the materials are varied. 



The foundation is laid once for all (Kei/xevos^ 
ver. II), yet in a sense it must also be 
laid by the particular founder of a local 
church, such as Paul. This required skill, 
wisdom {(ro(f)6s^ ver. 10), and this, by the 
grace of God, he possesses; or it may be 
that this phrase goes with edrjKa — it was 
by the grace of God that he was privileged, 
as an apostle by vocation (i. i) to lay a 
foiindaliuii. Though o-ocpos may only mean 
skilful, it is impossible, after the long dis- 
cussion in chs. i. and ii., not also to find 
m it an allusion to (TO(f)ia (wisdom) in 
the more technical sense. In spite of his 
seeming depreciation of wisdom, he claims 
himself to be wise, as a master-builder (a 
word which does not mean designer, but 
chief workman) ; but his is the true wis- 
dom that comes by the favor of God. 
According to the grace of God which 
was given to me, as a wise master- 
builder I laid a foundation. That was 
his peculiar task : it was the business of 
others to build upon, to develop his work. 
And another builds, or is building, upon 
it. He can hardly be referring to Apollos, 
who was not at Corinth, when the letter 
was being written (xvi. 12). But let each 
man see how, that is, with what mate- 
rials he is building upon it. Paul's work 
as a foundation builder is secure: here is 
a solemn warning to the other teachers, 
who continue his work. The reference all 
through appears to be to teachers and 
their teaching. 

II. It is only about the superstructure 
that advice needs to be given : for about 
the foundation there can be no doubt. It 
is fixed and sure, laid already, and once 
for all : and no one can lay another 
foundation alongside of {-n-apd with ace.) 
the one already laid (by God), and that 
is Jesus Christ: -n-apd, alongside of, in com- 
parison with, here almost = than. Jesus is 
the foundation : the church is founded upon 
a Person, not upon a system of truths. 
This historical person, however, is the 
Messiah, Christ, hope of the ancient Jew, 
hope of the world's heart. God's own 
anointed ; so that this name is a confes- 
sion, — the earliest, simplest, profoundest of 
the church. The church is foiuidod upon 
Jesus and the recognition of HisMessiah- 
ship : every time we speak intelligently of 
Jesus Christ we acknowledge that. 



Ch. Ill] 



I COKINTHIANS. 



27 



12 Now if any man build upon this 
foundation gold, silver, precious stones, 
wood, hay, stubble; 

13 Every man's work shall be made 
manifest: for the day shall declare it, be- 
cause it shall be revealed by fire; and the 
fire shall try every man's work of what 
sort it is. 

14 If any man's work abide which he 



hath built thereupon, he shall receive a 
reward. 

15 If any man's work shall be burned, 
he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall 
be saved; yet so as by fire. 

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple 
of God, and that the Spirit of God dwell- 
eth in you ? 

17 If any man defile the temple of 



12. Now those who^ accept this as the 
foundation of the Christian church, build 
upon it structures of very varying material 
and value — some precious and durable, 
such as gold, silver, and costly stones, 
like marble; and some poor and perishable, 
like wood, hay, and stubble. Or, to be 
more accurate, these are not different 
structures, but different material built into 
one divine temple (ver. 17) God's build- 
ing (ver. 9). The allusion is to different 
types of teaching. If any man builds on 
the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, 
on the one hand, or wood, hay, stubble, 
on the other — . 

' 13-15. Now what is to be the test of the 
value of this material? That will be seen, 
says Paul, in the judgment. Every indi- 
vidual's work shall be made manifest, 
for the judgment day shall make it 
plain — The day, corresponding to the day 
of Jehovah in the Old Testament is the 
day when Christ shall appear. This day 
would disclose the quality of every work, 
for its light is the bright light of fire : 
it (that is, the day) is revealed in fire. 
According to contemporary belief, when 
Christ came, it would be " in flaming fire " 
(2 Thes. i. 7). And consequently the 
quality of every individual's work will 
be tested by the fire. o.vt6 is either nom- 
inative " the fire itself " — of its own native 
force ; or accusative — the fire will test 
it. If then, in the judgment day, any 
man's work, which he built thereon (on 
the foundation), shall abide (^e^ei, fut., 
not ixhei) that is, if it shall stand that 
fiery test, he shall receive reward (ver. 
14, cf. 8) ; if, however, any man's work 
shall be burnt up, he shall suffer the 
loss of his reward. The only work to 
be rewarded is the work ' that can stand 
the final test. The fire, that will leave the 
stone intact, will reduce the wood and 
stubble to ashes : it will be an effective 
test of values. But, though his part of the 
building will perish, the man himself will 
escape, be saved, because he is a Chris- 
tian. His work is flimsy, but he has at 
least built it on the true foundation. Note 
the rhythmic balance between these clauses 



(without even a connecting particle) that 
contrast the fate of the good and the bad 
builder (el' tlvo% to epyoy twice). The man 
will indeed be saved, yet so as through 
fire; a very graphic picture of his pitiable 
plight on the judgment day. He escapes, 
but it is through the Hames, that leap and 
crackle around him, and consume his work, 
as, panting and terrified, he beats his re- 
treat. 



The real quality of the work done by 
the teachers of the church, so hard to es- 
timate amid the confusions of party con- 
tention, will be revealed in the day of 
judgment, when only that which is solid 
and precious, will survive. This truth is 
expressed in eschatological terms, but it 
may legitimately be given a larger appli- 
cation. Every crisis is a judgment; in its 
fire quality is tested, and the fit survives. 



The Responsibility of the Church's 
Members (iii. 16, 17). 

16, 17. To the warning (/SXeTreVo;, ver. 
10) addressed to the teachers is appended 
a warning to the members of the church. 
Do you not know — such a question was 
calculated to make the Corinthians wince, 
who prided themselves on their knowledge 
(cf. viii. i) — that you are not only God's 
building (ver. 9), but His holy building, 
God's temple {vaos is the inner shrine, 
the abode of the Deity), and that God's 
spirit dwells in you as a whole — not here, 
as in vi. 19, in the individuals ; we might 
therefore render "among you." And just 
as any one guilty of the sacrilege of de- 
stroying an earthly temple would be put 
to death, so if any one destroys God's 
temple, destruction shall be his fate at 
the hands of God. The juxtaposition of 
(pdeipei and (POepel is very impressive (cf. 
ii. 13). For God's temple is holy, the 
which are ye. The which (otrives) prob- 
ably refers rather to holy than to temple, 
which would involve a repetition of ver. 
16. When we ask how the holiness, to 



28 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. Ill 



God, him shall God destroy ; for the 
temple of God is holy, which temple ye 
are. 

i8 Let no man deceive himself. If any 
man among you seemeth to be wise in this 
world, let him become a fool, that he may 
be wise. 

19 For the wisdom of this world is 
foolishness with God : for it is written, 
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 



20 And again. The Lord knoweth the 
thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. 

21 Therefore let no man glory in men: 
for all things are yours ; 

22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Ce- 
phas, or the world, or life, or death, or 
things present, or things to come ; all 
are yours ; 

22> And ye are Christ's; and Christ is 
God's. 



which the church was called (i. 2) was 
imperilled, we are tempted to think of such 
immoralities as are described later in the 
letter (cf. v. i) ; but, in this context, the 
reference is probably to the schismatic 
spirit, which threatened the church's unity. 
This, as we have seen, is the real car- 
nality (ver. 3). 



Those who, whether by party strife or 
immorality, " destroy " the church, are 
worse than those who build badly upon the 
true foundation, and their fate shall be 
more terrible. The one shall escape 
through the flames, the other shall be con- 
sumed by them. 



The Partisan Spirit Obscures the Glorious 
Heritage (iii. 18-23). 

18-20. How grievously Paul was vexed 
by the partisan spirit of the Corinthian 
church is shewn by the earnestness and 
frequency with which he illustrates the 
error of it from different points of view. 
When party cries are abroad, it is so 
easy for a man to take his measure 
wrongly, to think himself wise, when he 
is in reality a fool. But let no man de- 
ceive himself: if any one thinks that he 
is wise among you in this world (or age), 
if any counts himself zvorldly wise, let 
him at once reverse his standards, become 
a fool in the eyes of the world, and then 
true wisdom will begin to be possible: let 
him become a fool, that he may become 
wise. The conceit of wisdom is well sug- 
gested by the need of display: wise 
among you. The wisdom of tJiis world 
(vv. 18, 19) is transient and its repre- 
sentatives are doomed (ii. 6). The stand- 
ards of the world and of God and, there- 
fore of His church, arc diametrically op- 
posed : for the wisdom of this world is 
folly in the eyes of God. This contrast 
has been frequently met with in the first 
two chapters (cf. i. 18, 20, etc.). Tn his 
customary way, Paul proves, or at least, 
confirms this point, by an appeal to the 



Old Testament — for it stands in Scripture 
— 'Citing Job v. 13^ (the only citation from 
Job in the New Testament) which speaks 
of God as " catching the wise in their 
cunning," and again Psalm xciv. 11, "The 
Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise 
(in the Psalm of man) that they are futile." 
Their clever calculations turn out to be 
not only idle, but ruinous, involving them 
in destruction; and if this be the end of 
their wisdom, it is indeed a veritable folly 
(ver. 19a). Some interpret this section 
simply as a rebuke of conceit ; but consid- 
ering the close connection between vv. 20 
and 21 (wo-re, consequently), it seems bet- 
ter to connect the conceit with the party 
spirit (cf. iv. 6). 

21-23. Paul concludes his argument in 
a magnificent climax. Therefore let no 
one glory in men — an admonition which 
he had already stated positively in i. 31 : 
Let him glory in the Lord. It is absurd, 
he argues, to glory in individual leaders : 
you are only thereby obscuring the real 
splendor of your inheritance, for all the 
leaders are yours, indeed all things are 
yours. A favorite maxim of the Stoics 
was that all things belong to the wise 
man, and the same bold claim may well 
have been often upon the lips of Corin- 
thian Christians. But if so, their sec- 
tarianism showed that they did not real- 
ize the full sweep of such a claim. All 
the leaders belonged to the zvholc church, 
not each to a section only. You do not 
belong to them (" I am Paul's, I am Pe- 
ter's '') but they to you, all of them to 
all of you — whether Paul or Apollos or 
Peter. Nay, not they only, but the whole 
material world — it is your servant, con- 
tributory to your deepest interests : nay, 
not the material world only, but all the 
manifold mystery of human experience, 
life and death — life, in which we have 
union with Christ, and death which is 
gain (Phil. i. 21) by ushering us into 
higher glory: nay, not the experience of 
this life alone, but all possible experience 
throughout the infinite ages, things pres- 
ent and things to come. He sums up the 
stupendous claim in the words with which 



Ch. IV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



29 



CHAPTER 4. 

1 Let a man so account of us, as of 
the ministers of Christ, and stewards of 
the mysteries of God. 

2 Moreover it is required in stewards, 
that a man be found faithful. 



3 But with me it is a very small thing 
that I should be judged of you, or of 
man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine 
own self. 

4 For I know nothing by myself; yet 
am I not thereby justified: but he that 
judgeth me is the Lord. 



he introduced it — all things are yours 

— and instantly follows it up with words 
that fall upon Corinthian conceit like a 
bolt from the blue : but ye are Christ's. 
They are owners, but they are not their 
own. The universe is theirs, but they hold 
it under the lordship of Christ. They are 
masters of all things, but He is master of 
them. You, not some (i. 12), but all of 
you, are Christ's. He does not belong to 
you in the sense in which Paul, Apollos 
and Peter do, hence His name is not added 
as in i. 12 after theirs. And even Christ 
is not His own: He is God's (ver. 23). 
In what sense is He God's? Especially as 
His Son. Christ is not God, He is God's, 
belongs to Him : the head of Christ is God 
(xi. 3, cf. XV. 28). 



What a climax! How the last word 
lights up the whole situation and shows 
how unworthy, how indescribably foolish 
and wrong was the party strife of the Corin- 
thians. As there is one God over all, and 
one Lord, Christ Jesus, so should there be 
one church, in whose unbroken life the 
peace of God should find itself reflected. 
There could be no more tender or forcible 
rebuke of that denominationalism, which, 
when accentuated, injures the real life of 
the Christian church, than these wonder- 
ful words of Paul. All the saints and 
leaders, of whatsoever communion, who, 
by their words or deeds, have blessed the 
lives of men, belong to the whole church. 
They are all ours ; and it is for us not 
to stultify, by the limitation of our sym- 
pathies, the blessing that they are fitted to 
be to us. Sectarianism and all its petti- 
nesses will vanish, where it is remembered 
that we are Christ's and Christ is God's. 
Verse 22 illustrates what Paul meant by 
the glory (do^a) to which God destined 
us (ii. 7). The Christian is the real mas- 
ter of the universe ; all things are his — 
all things in history and experience, in 
time and space — being wrought together 
for his good by the God who is beneath 
and through and above them all. 



Paid Warns the Corinthians Against Judg- 
ing Their Leaders (iv. 1-5). 

Paul has just been exposing the folly 
and the sin of party spirit by showing its 
power to limit, and even to blight, the 
Christian's glorious inheritance : he now 
illustrates its evil effects from another 
side, by showing how it encourages in the 
church a critical and censorious spirit. 

I, 2. So (not as precedes, but as fol- 
lows) let a man {avOpw-wos, rather stronger 
than the indefinite rts) account of us — 
of the leaders generally; perhaps he is 
thinking especially of himself and Apollos 
— ^as servants {vTr-nperas, much the same 
in meaning as Slclkovol in iii. 5) of Christ 
and stewards of the mysteries of God. 
The steward is the slave who dispenses the 
stores of the house (Luke xii. 42), and the 
stores are the mysteries, that is, truths 
once hidden, now revealed, or to be re- 
vealed. It is the duty of the leaders to 
dispense these stores, to disclose these 
truths, to the church, which is the house- 
hold of God. Here moreover, just as in 
a private house, so also in the household 
of God, the first and last requirement of 
a steward is proved fidelity. The test 
of a true leader is not his oratorical or 
philosophical power, his "word" or "wis- 
dom," to use the familiar phrases of this 
epistle, but the fidelity with which he per- 
forms the duties of his stewardship. 

3, 4. But who is to be the judge of this 
fidelity? The only judgment worth consid- 
ering seriously is that of Christ : human 
judgment is of very little account, whether 
the judgment of others or even that which 
a man passes upon himself. From this 
passage, and still more clearly from ix. 3, 
we can see that Paul has been the object 
of criticism. But to me it amounts to 
(et's) very little that I am judged by you 
or indeed by any human judgment (day). 
This curious phrase human day appears to 
be suggested by " the day of the Lord " : 
it is the day when man judges as con- 
trasted with the day when the Lord judges. 
Paul was alike indifferent to their praise 
and blame : nay — so far was he from 
caring for human judgment that I do not 
even judge myself. The spiritual man 



30 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. IV 



5 Therefore judge nothing before the 
time, until the Lord come, who both will 
bring to light the hidden things of dark- 
ness, and will make manifest the counsels 
of the hearts : and then shall every man 
have praise of God. 



6 And these things, brethren, I have 
in a figure transferred to myself and to 
Apollos for your sakes ; that ye might 
learn in us not to think of men above 
that which is written, that no one of you 
be pufifed up for one against another. 



does indeed judge all things (ii. 15), but 
he does not forget that Christ judges him; 
and with this ultimate infallible judgment 
in view, he recognizes the inadequacy of 
the judgment even of an approving con- 
science. For though I am conscious of 
nothing against myself, yet that does not 
justify me (lit. not in this do I stand 
justified, dediKaiio^ai perf.). It is a question 
whether justify should be taken, as above, 
in its ordinar}^ or in its more technical 
sense. Does Paul simply mean, "I am not 
justified by that;" — the approval of my 
conscience is no absolute proof that I am 
free from blame ? or does he mean " I am 
justified" — in the technical sense — "but 
not by that:" that is, "I owe my justifica- 
tion to Christ, and not to my own good 
conscience?" The order of the words (ova 
ev TovTcp) is somewhat in favor of the 
second interpretation, but the general con- 
text rather supports the first. In spite of 
his good conscience, then, Paul will not 
judge himself: but he that judgeth me is 
one higher even than conscience, viz. the 
Lord. That judgment is still future and 
will take place, when the Lord come 
(ver. 5). 

5. So then, as the true judgment is not 
human, but divine, not that which the 
" wase " Corinthians can pass, but that 
which Christ alone can pass, and as it 
belongs not to the present but to the future, 
it is wrong of the Corinthians to anticipate 
it by premature and necessarily shallow 
criticisms of their own. Do not therefore 
pass any judgment before the proper 
time, that is, until the Lord come. His 
coming was one of the great articles of 
faith, and when He came. He would show 
Himself as one who will both throw light 
upon the hidden things of darkness and 
make manifest the secret counsels of 
the hearts. Here is a latent rebuke of 
the superficiality of Corinthian criticism, 
indeed of all human judgment. In the na- 
ture of the case it has to be based upon 
externals: it has to play upon surface 
things, it cannot see in the dark, it cannot 
pierce to the heart. But Christ, with His 
searching light and fire (cf. iii. 13), will 
bring out to the light the things that are 
hidden; and THEN the fitting praise will 
accrue to each man from God. Then 



— ^and not till then, for Christ is the only 
competent judge: the Corinthians were 
guilty of an un-Christian impatience in 
judging before the time. At the coming 
of Christ, justice would be done all round: 
each man would receive the (0) praise, 
that is, the praise which is his due. The 
praise would come from God. With such 
a confidence and such an outlook, it is 
easy to see that the praise or blame w^hich 
men meted out meantime, as the Corin- 
thians to their party leaders, was of very 
little account (eXaxto-roj/, ver. 3). 



Paul here addresses to the Corinthians 
the salutary reminder that, though the 
leaders are their servants (iii. 22), yet they 
are also the servants of Christ (iv. i), 
and that therefore, not they, but Christ, 
will be the ultimate judge of their stew- 
ardship. He rebukes at once the impa- 
tience and the superficiality of human crit- 
icism. 



The Royal Corinthians and the Worthless 
Apostles (iv. 6-13). 

The argument against the party spirit of 
the Corinthians is now drawing to a close. 
The apostle condemns the distinctions in 
which it resulted, by reminding the Corin- 
thians that it was nothing that they had 
done, that put them in possession of the 
things of which they boasted. And their 
boasting was positively outrageous ! they 
spoke as if they had already reached the 
goal. Perhaps they had, exclaims the apos- 
tle ironically ; but at any rate he himself 
had not traveled so far. He was at that 
very moment the victim of hardships and 
sufferings and indignities manifold. 

6. The party spirit has been under dis- 
cussion from i. 12, and more specifically 
from iii. S. The language in which Paul 
has attacked and condemned it is not ab- 
stract, but concrete. What he might have 
said in general terms, he has chosen to 
say definitely of his own party and that of 
Apollos, his convert and friend. If he 
condemned the partisan spirit in this man- 
ifestation, it went without saying that he 
would condemn it in every other. So 



Ch. IV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



31 



7 For who maketh thee to differ from 
another? and what hast thou that thou 
didst not receive? now if thou didst re- 
ceive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou 
hadst not received it? 

8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, 
ye have reigned as kings without us ; and 
I would to God ye did reign, that we also 
might reign with you. 

9 For I think that God hath set forth 
us the apostles last, as it were appointed 



to death : for we are made a spectacle 
unto the world, and to angels, and to men. 

10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but 
ye are wise in Christ ; we are weak, but ye 
are strong ; ye are honourable, but we are 
despised. 

11 Even unto this present hour we 
both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, 
and are buffeted, and have no certain 
dwelling place ; 

12 And labour, working with our own 



these arguments, brethren, I have 
adapted to myself and Apollos, and I have 
done this on your account — my object is 
your edification — that by (lit. in) us you 
may learn the rule, never to go beyond 
what is written. Written where? Most 
probably in the Old Testament, quotations 
from which are usually introduced by the 
word yeypairraL (cf. i. 31, iii. 19). That 
some such text as Jer. ix. 22, already 
quoted in i. 31, may be in Paul's mind, is 
strongly suggested by the next clause : that, 
as individuals ye may not be puffed up 
for the one leader and against the other 
(ver, 6). Paul aims at destroying the 
conceit engendered by party strife. 

7. Turning in imagination to an indi- 
vidual (o-e), Paul asks him: Who is it 
that marks you off as Paul's man or 
Apollos' man? Or the words rnay rnean 
"To whom do you owe your distinction? 
(Is it not to God?)" He goes on And 
what do you have that you did not re- 
ceive from God ultimately (i. 4) and 
mediately through your teachers (iii. 6) ? 
And if it be a fact that (Kal) you received 
it, why do you boast, as if you had not 
received it? 

8. He touches now, in an ironical vein, 
upon the things which they " have," all 
the more stinging that he has already de- 
scribed them as infants (iii. i). So you 
are already filled full, are you? wealthy 
already, are you? you have entered upon 
your langdom without any help from 
us, have you? These three clauses may 
be read either as exclamations or as ques- 
tions : the former is better, as heightening 
the irony. He had spoken seriously of 
their wealth in i. 5, here he speaks sar- 
castically. They believed only too flip- 
pantly that all things were theirs (iii. 21) ; 
they took too light-hearted a view of their 
Christian obligations, they did not realize 
the austerity of service. The Messianic 
kingdom had already come, and they were 
sitting like kings upon their thrones, 
wealthy and satisfied, v^v is very emphat- 
ic : already! so soon! Note the perf. 



KeKopeafiepoL eare, in a condition of satiety: 
aor. eirXovTriaare^ e^aaikevaare^ points to the 
moment when they attained their wealth 
and kingdom. The irony of the last clause 
is especially sad : you have become kings 
without us ; why, you would never even 
have been Christians but for us. Yes, he 
goes ironically on, I only wish you had 
been kings, that so, by virtue of our 
fortunate association with you, we too 
might share in your kingly rule. 

9. But alas ! we are far enough from 
sitting on thrones. You Corinthians may 
be rich and royal, but it is very different 
with us apostles : we are like criminals 
doomed to die. For, methinks, God has 
exhibited us the apostles (others as well 
as Paul himself, though the following 
verses 11-13 are no doubt colored by per- 
sonal experience) last — though we ought 
to be first (cf. xii. 28) — as men con- 
demned to death: a cross rather than a 
throne is before us. For we are become 
a spectacle to the whole world, alike to 
angels invisible and to men. The figure 
underlying this verse may be that of a 
public festival, at which criminals or 
others were brought on to fight to the 
death. It has even been suggested that 
Paul may himself have been condemned, 
as a criminal, to fight with wild beasts in 
the theater at Ephesus ; cf. xv. 32, 2 Cor. 
i. 8, 9. At the apostle's struggles and 
sufferings the whole universe is looking 
on — angelic eyes no less than human. 

10-12. The ironical contrast between 
you and us is further developed in three 
brief but very pointed antitheses. As for 
us, we are fools for Christ's sake — the 
simple preaching of Christ and His cross 
made them ridiculous in the eyes of the 
wise of this world (cf. i. 23 f.) ; but ye 
are prudent in Christ: they are indeed 
in Christ (cf. iii. i), but the words have 
a special sting here — he attributes to the 
" wise " Corinthians a union with Christ, 
of which he says nothing when speaking 
of himself. We are weak (cf. ii. 3), but 
ye are strong: ye are glorious, but we 



32 



I ( ORINTHIANS. 



rcH. IV 



hands; being reviled, we bless; being per- 
secuted, we suffer it : 

13 Being defamed, we entreat : we are 
made as the filth of the world, and are 
the offscouring of all things unto this 
day. 

14 I write not these things to shame 
you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. 

15 For though ye have ten thousand 
instructors in Christ, yet hai'e yc not many 



fathers, for in Christ Jesus I ha\e be- 
gotten you through the gospel. 

16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye fol- 
lowers of me. 

17 For this cause have I sent unto you 
Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and 
faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you 
into remembrance of my ways wrhich be 
in Christ, as I teach every where in every 
church. 



are in disgrace. The order of the pro- 
nouns is here changed, to secure a better 
connection with the words that follow. 
Though Paul still uses the first person 
plural, there can be little doubt that in 
the following description (vv. 11-13), _ it 
is his own experience that he has primarily 
in view. His life as a Christian has been 
a stern one right up to the moment of 
writing. Up to this very hour we suffer 
from hunger and thirst and insufficient 
clothing and blows — kings forsooth! — 
we have no fixed home, we work hard 
with our own hands: cf. Acts xviii. 3; 
XX. 34; I Thes. ii. 9. 

12, 13. So much for our sufferings : in 
what spirit do we bear them? Abuse we 
requite — not with counter-abuse, not even 
with silence, but — with blessing, perse- 
cution with patience, calumny with gen- 
tle words of entreaty, as Christ coun- 
selled (Luke vi. 28). And for our reward 
what have we? We are become, so to 
say, the refuse of the world, the off- 
scouring of all things (or men) — like 
rinsings and scrapings, . fit only for the 
gutter — ; and that is how we are regarded 
and treated up to this very moment. As 
this minute description (vv. 11-13) begins 
and ends with the same phrase (up to the 
present hour), it would seem as if Paul 
was suffering from some very recent in- 
dignity. The words in ver. 13, irepiKadapfia 
and 7repti//7j;ua, were also applied to crim- 
inals who were sacrificed for the public 
weal in times of calamity; but the other 
meaning is perhaps preferable here. 



In a few burning words, Paul has made 
clear the terrible contrast between his own 
position and that of the pretentious Co- 
rinthian converts — they, like kings upon 
their thrones, wise, wealthy, and glorious, 
he the ill-clad, homeless apostle, victim of 
blows, calumny and insult. That was what 
it cost to be a "faithful steward" (ver. 
2) ; after such a recital, the Corinthians, 
conceited and comfortable, might well 
have misgivings as to their own fidelity. 



The Fatherly Admonition (iv. 14-21). 

14-16. Severe and almost bitter as were 
these last words (vv. 8-13), the Corin- 
thians are to understand that Paul's mo- 
tive in writing them was the best. He 
loves the Corinthians as a father, and these 
words are his fatherly admonition to them. 
He did write some things to shame them 
(cf. vi. 5; XV. 34), but not these particular 
words. Not by way of shaming you do 
I write these things, but as admonition, 
to my beloved children (ver. 14). He 
stands in a unique relation to the Corin- 
thian church. Other teachers had built 
upon the foundation, but it was he who 
had laid it (iii. 10). These teachers are 
here called 7rat5a7aj7ot, pedagogues, the 
name given to the slave wdio took charge 
of a young boy (cf. iii. i. Gal. iii. 24); 
and there may be a touch of irony in the 
word ten-thousand, which suggests that 
there was no dearth in the supply. For 
though ye may have ten thousand tutors 
in Christ, at any rate (ye have) not 
many fathers, for in Christ Jesus, the 
sphere in which the Corinthians were be- 
gotten by the agency of the gospel, it 
v/as I (h''^) who begat you. As your 
father, therefore, I beseech you, become 
imitators of me, not in w^ord (cf. ver. 20), 
by claiming to be Paul's man. but in deed, 
by being ready to suffer such pain and 
shame as I have suffered (vv. 11-13). 
There is not one standard of duty and 
suffering for an apostle, and another for 
the members of the church : they are all 
to be imitators of him. 

17. Paul was so much in earnest in 
his desire that they should learn to imitate 
him, that he had sent Timothy to instruct 
them, or rather to refresh their memories. 
That is why I have sent you Timothy, 
who is my child, beloved and faithful 
in the Lord (or my beloved child [cf. 
ver. 14I and faithful in the Lord). Love 
and fidelity reach their purest and highest 
in the Lord: the phrase means rather 
more than " in the sphere of Christian 
duty." It is fitting that Paul should send 



Ch. IV] 



I COEINTHIANS. 



33 



i8 Now some are puffed up, as though 
I would not come to you. 

19 But I will come to you shortly, if 
the Lord will, and will know, not the 
speech of them which are puffed up, but 
the power. 



20 For the kingdom of God is not in 
word, but in power. 

21 What will ye? shall I come unto 
you with a rod, or in love, and in the 

spirit of meekness? 



a beloved child to his beloved children 
(ver. 14) ; and this child is one who will 
put you in mind of my ways that are 
in Christ — their conduct showed that they 
had forgotten those ways, and Timothy 
would remind them no doubt by example 
as well as by precept. Paul's ways, manner 
of life, were in accordance with his teach- 
ing; they were such as I teach not only 
at Corinth, but everywhere in every 
church. So the demands he makes upon, 
and the standard he sets for, the Corin- 
thian church, are not special and peculiar : 
they are the ideals he holds before all the 
churches. 

18-21. Apparently Paul's sending of 
Timothy had led some of the Corinthians 
to believe that he was afraid to face them 
himself: but he promptly disabuses their 
mind of that idea. Under the impression 
that I am not coming myself some have 
become puffed up — a common failing of 
the Corinthians (ver. 6) ; but come I will 
to you, and that very soon, — though he 
arranges to stay at Ephesus till after Pen- 
tecost is over (xvi. 8) —if the Lord will 



(cf. xvi. 7), He, on whose will all human 
action is contingent (cf. James iv. 15). 
It is difficult to say whether the will here 
is that of Christ, who is the Lord in ver. 
17, or of God (cf. i. i). And, as spiritual 
father of the Corinthian church, with re- 
gard to those who have been and still 
are puffed up (perf.), I will take cog- 
nizance not of their words — the ready 
Greeks had always enough of these on 
hand — but of their power, their effective- 
ness. For it is not the talkers, but the 
men of spiritual power who advance the 
kingdom of God; the kingdom of God 
does not rest or consist in talk, but in 
power. What will ye have then? I am 
coming in any case : it is for you to say 
how. Is it armed with a rod of correc- 
tion that I am to come to you, or in 
love and a spirit of gentleness? There 
would be love in either case, for he is 
their father (ver. 15), and the hand that 
wielded the rod would be a fatherly hand : 
but the question is whether that love shall 
express itself in chastisement or gentle- 
ness. 



34 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. V 



THE SOCIAL MORALITY OF THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH 

(v-vii). 



CHAPTER 5. 

I It is reported commonly that there 
is fornication among you, and such forni- 
cation as is not so much as named among 



the Gentiles, that one should have his 
father's wife, 

2 And ye are puffed up, and have not 
rather mourned, that he that hath done 
this deed might be taken away from among 
you. 



A Case of Incest (v. 1-8). 

From the discussion of the party ques- 
tion, which, though it had subtle effects 
on moral life, was, on the whole, a re- 
ligious rather than a moral question, Paul 
now passes to the consideration of the 
more distinctively moral life of the Corin- 
thian church, which, on some of its levels 
was low enough ; and the rod with which 
in iv. 21, the apostle threatens to come to 
them, is only too intelligible. 

I. In a city so completely given over 
as was Corinth to the worship of Aphro- 
dite (Venus), the large place given in the 
letter to the discussion of sexual relation- 
ships and sins is not surprising, and it is 
natural that this part of the letter should 
be introduced by the discussion of a par- 
ticularly flagrant offense. There is act- 
ually a report of fornication among you, 
yes (/cat) and fornication the like of 
which does not (exist) even among the 
Gentiles, namely, that a man should 
have, whether as wife or concubine, his 
father's wife. Paul is indignant that the 
Christian church should have fallen below 
even the low standard of the Pagan world, 
and we may assume that this act, or at 
any rate the indifference if not satisfaction, 
with which it was received by the church, 
arose from a false conception of the Chris- 
tian liberty preached by Paul. About the 
crime itself there is much that is obscure. 
Was the father's wife the man's own 
mother or his stepmother? Almost cer- 
tainly the latter, as the word mother would 
certainly have been chosen to point the 
horror of the crime. But that the crime 
was horrible enough is indicated by the 
use of the phrase, the father's wife in 
preference to stepmother. Again w^as the 
woman a Christian or not? Probably not, 
as Paul's disciplinary proposals are directed 
exclusively against the man? Again, was 
the father dead or not? This point is not 
certain ; it depends upon whether he is to 
be identified with " the man that suffered 
the wrong " in 2 Cor. vii. 12. Again, is 
the implication that he had this woman as 
wife or concubine? This point is also un- 



certain, as exeiv can be used of either re- 
lationship ; and the phrases in vv. 2, 3 " he 
that had done this deed," " he that hath 
so _ wrought this thing," do not point de- 
cisively in either direction. In any case, 
the union of a man with his stepmother 
was condemned by Greek, Roman (edveaiv) 
and Jewish opinion (Lev. xviii. 8). The 
translation in A. V. " not so much as 
named'' rests upon ovo/xd^erai, which is an 
unwarranted interpolation in the text. 

2. An act which would have been an 
offense to Pagan society, ought surely to 
have shocked sensitive Christian opinion. 
But the Corinthian church, whether by 
virtue of the low moral ideals brought 
over by the converts from paganism, or 
of misconceptions of what was involved in 
Christian liberty, was not easily shocked. 
As for YOU (vfiels) ye are puffed up, in a 
state of inflation (perf. 7re0i'o-ta>/ieVoi iore)^ 
a state apparently chronic to the Corin- 
thians (iv. 6, 18). Things must have been 
bad indeed if the Corinthians were puffed 
up because of the crime. This is not quite 
impossible, as such a crime would be the 
best proof that they meant what they said 
when they claimed " liberty " for them- 
selves as Christians. But it is not neces- 
sary to suppose this, and the Greek tense 
(unlike e^vaiwe-qcav, in iv. 18) is rather 
against it. The meaning may simply be 
that the crime was accompanied by (not 
that it produced) a feeling of inflation on 
the part of the church. As the next clause 
suggests; instead of being sorry, they 
maintained their state of inflation. And 
ye did not rather fall to mourning (aor/) 
and, in your penitence, take steps that the 
man who wrought this deed be removed 
from your midst — by themselves, as ver. 
13 shows ; in other words that he he ex- 
communicated. There is something im- 
pressive and solemn about \\\<t double 
formal allusion to the man in vv. 2, 3 as 
" the one who had done this thing." It 
is possible — and some argue, from the use 
of oi''xt, more natural — to read this verse 
interrogatively : " are ye puffed up, and did 
ye not rather mourn?" 



Ch. V] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



35 



3 For I verily, as absent in body, but 
present in spirit, have judged already, as 
though I were present, concerning him 
that hath so done this deed, 

4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 



when ye are gathered together, and my | Lord Jesus. 



spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

5 To deliver such a one unto Satan 
for the destruction of the flesh, that the 
spirit may be saved in the day of the 



3. With the laxity of the Corinthians, 
Paul contrasts his own decision ^7^ /J-ev : 
for I on my part, absent in the body 
but present in the spirit — that spirit 
which was illuminated through association 
with the spirit and power of the Lord Jesus 
(ver. 4) — have already come to a de- 
cision, as though I were actually pres- 
ent, with regard to the man who in this 
way perpetrated this crime (ver. 3), 
KeKpiKa seems to combine two constructions : 
I have judged this man, and I have de- 
cided to deliver such a one to Satan 
(■jrapadoiivai^ ver. 5). One would hardly 
expect Eaul to judge a man on hearsay 
(d/couerat, ver. i) evidence: either he re- 
gards himself as specially enlightened 
through his association with (avv) the 
spirit of Jesus, or, as Ramsay says, " the 
words 'I have judged him' do not imply 
a legal judgment, but an expression of 
Paul's opinion on a mere report of the 
case." It makes little difference whether 
we take ws irapuv to mean, " as though 
actually present " or " as being present " 
(that is in spirit). Does ovtus (thus) 
mean thus shamefully, or Christian though 
he be by profession? 

4, 5. Paul's decision is given with great 
deliberation ; clause follows clause with un- 
usual solemnity, and the reader is held in 
breathless suspense till the fateful word 
irapadoiivai is reached. The judgment is, 
in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you 
have gathered together, and my spirit, in 
association with the power of our Lord 
Jesus, TO DELIVER HIM THAT IS 
SUCH TO SATAN. The phrase in the 
name of our Lord Jesus may grammatically 
go either with " gathered " or " deliver " : 
similarly the phrase zvith the power of our 
Lord Jesus. It seems, on the whole, best 
to take the latter phrase with " gathered," 
and the former with " deliver." The de- 
cision is in the name of Jesus to deliver 
him to Satan, after the Corinthians have 
assembled with the spirit of the absent 
Paul in association with that of Jesus. 
All things were to be done by Christians 
in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col. iii. 
17) a fortiori acts of such grave and 
solemn importance (cf. Acts iii. 6) ; the 
utterance of the name of Jesus was prob- 
ably believed to summon His presence and 



power (Acts iii. 16). It is not quite clear 
whether the phrase with the pozver of 
Jesus goes closely with my spirit, implying 
that Paul's spirit was sustained and illu- 
mined by association zvith the spirit of 
Jesus, or whether it implies that the power 
of Jesus, as a separate entity, was inde- 
pendently present (you . . . and my spirit 
. . . together zvith the power of Jesus). 
It is interesting to note the importance 
here attached to the convocation of the 
Corinthian church : this is one of the fac- 
tors in the decision. The constitution of 
the church is what we might call dem- 
ocratic ; they have, as we see in ver. 13, 
the right and the duty to keep their mem- 
bership pure. 

5. It is worthy of note that Paul does 
not actually say that he decides to hand 
the culprit over to Satan; but tov tolovtov, 
such a one, a man of this kind. What is 
meant by " delivering a man to Satan " ? 
We here touch a circle of ideas that forci- 
bly remind us that we are reading an 
ancient document. Satan is the great ad- 
versary of God ; consequently sickness and 
disease, as evil things, are often ascribed 
to him. It was he who brought calamity 
and leprosy upon Job (Job i, ii), and who 
had " bound " the woman whom Jesus 
healed in the synagogue on the Sabbath 
day (Luke xiii. 16). The sinner is here 
delivered to Satan for destruction of the 
flesh, and these illustrations show that 
such a work would be peculiarly congenial 
to him. Further, the strange authority 
claimed by ,the apostle is paralleled else- 
where : Hymenaeus and Alexander are 
similarly delivered {irapebwKa) to Satan, 
that they may be disciplined (i Tim. i. 20). 
The power of an apostle's word is illus- 
trated by the stories of the fate of Ananias 
and Sapphira (Acts v), and the blindness 
that fell upon Elymas (Acts xiii. 11) ; so 
this judgment of Paul is to be conceived 
as carrying potency with it. Possibly, 
however, as Ramsay suggests, the mean- 
ing may be less terrible : the phrase may 
be formed on the analogy of the formulae 
by which a Greek, who had been wronged, 
sometimes " consigned the criminal to the 
God, and left the punishment to be in- 
flicted by divine power ... If there sub- 
sequently befell him any bodily suffering, 



36 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. V 



6 Your glorying is not good. Know 
ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the 
whole lump ? 

7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, 
that ye may be a new lump, as ye are 



unleavened. For even Christ our pass- 
over is sacrificed for us : 

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not 
with old leaven, neither with the leaven 
of malice and wickedness ; but with the 
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 



it would be regarded as the divine act, 
to the end that he might repent and learn " 
{Expositor 1900, pp. 212 f.). It is appro- 
priate here that the flesh should be de- 
stroyed, as that was at once the seat and 
the source of the sin; but in no case 
could flesh inherit the kingdom of God 
(xv. 50). Probably the idea is that he is 
to die by slow disease. Satan, though 
now the adversary of God,' was once re- 
garded as His servant (cf. Job i. 6) ; 
and even now his " destructive " work is 
overruled for good. The flesh is to be 
destroyed that the spirit — the highest 
part of man — may be saved in the day 
of the Lord, in the day when Jesus comes 
in judgment to decide the destinies of 
men (i. 8). This solemn decision of Paul 
has, therefore, in view the sinner's ulti- 
mate salvation. 

6. In view of so great an offense, con- 
tinues Paul, on the. part of one of your 
members, this glorying of yours is not 
seemly. Do you not know — perhaps 
another ironical allusion to their much 
vaunted knowledge (cf. iii. 16) — that a 
little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 
The lump is the Christian community ; 
what is the leaven? Is it the sin described 
in the last paragraph, or the Corinthian 
conceit and moral laxity (cf'.' ver. 2). If 
the former, it would be strange to find 

^ Paul characterize so grave an offense, and 
'one upon which he pronounces so terrible 
a doom, as a little leaven, unless indeed 
the word is to be taken quantitatively 
rather than qualitatively: probably there- 
fore the leaven is, as ver. 8 suggests, the 
moral indifference and depravity of the Co- 
rinthians themselves. 

7, 8. Considering then the danger to the 
lump from the leaven, it was only common 
prudence to cleanse out the old leaven 
completely, that ye may be a new lump, 
feeing that (lit. even as, in accordance with 
the fact that) ye are — not indeed really, 
as is only too plain, but at any rate ideally 
and by profession — free from leaven of 
this sinful kind. The i)roof that you are. 
or ought to be, thus unleavened is that 
our passover lamb has been sacrificed, 
even Christ; and just as, according to 
the Mosaic law (Exod. xii. 15 ff, xiii. 7), 
the sacrifice of the passover lamb was ac- 



companied by complete abstinence for 
seven days from everything leavened, so 
among Christians, the sacrifice of Christ, 
their passover lamb, was incompatible with 
the leaven ^ of sin. The casual reference 
to leaven in ver. 6 causes Paul to draw 
out the figure to considerable length ; and 
this alone is sufficient to account for the 
exhortation, so then let us keep the fes- 
tival. We need not suppose that he is 
thinking of the celebration of the passover 
at Corinth, though the letter may well 
have been written about passover time 
(cf. xvi. 8). "All time," says Chrysos- 
tom, " is a festival season to Christians " ; 
and this unending festival has to be kept 
not with old leaven, brought by the Co- 
rinthians from their old pagan life, nor 
with leaven of evil and wickedness, like 
the fornication on the one hand, and their 
indifference to it on the other, but with 
the unleavened bread of transparency 
and truth. It has been conjectured that 
this insistence upon sincerity, transparency, 
is a rebuke of their possibly wilful mis- 
understanding of his previous letter, which 
he now proceeds to discuss. 



This glimpse into the Corinthian church 
throws a lurid light upon the moral ideals 
and attainments of her members. The " old 
leaven " of paganism, and their misconcep- 
tion of the Christian calling, combined to 
produce a caricature of the true church 
which goes far to explain the solemn and 
terrible earnestness with which Paul re- 
bukes the church and especially her most 
conspicuous sinner. 



The Church and the World: a Letter Mis- 
understood (v. 9-13). 

Other letters were written by Paul to 
the Corinthian church than those which 
have been preserved (2 Cor. x. to) : in 
particular one had been written before the 
first canonical epistle, in which, as here, 
he had given instructions to the Corin- 
thians about the conduct of their moral 
life. The "fornicator" must have been 
an unhappily frequent figure on the 
streets of Corinth. He could hardly be 



Ch. V] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



37 



9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to 
company with fornicators : 

ID Yet not altogether with the forni- 
cators of this world, or with the covetous, 
or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then 
must ye needs go out of the world. 

II But now I have written unto you 
not to keep company, if any man that is 
called a brother be a fornicator, or cov- 



etous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a 
drunkard, or an extortioner ; with such a 
one no not to eat. 

12 For what have I to do to judge 
them also that are without? do not ye 
judge them that are within? 

13 But them that are without God 
judgeth. Therefore put away from among 
yourselves that wicked person. 



avoided; what was to be the attitude of 
church members to him and such as he? 
This passage appropriately follows the last 
which dealt with immorality within the 
church itself. 

9, 10. I wrote to you — not in this 
letter (vv. 2, 6, for example, are not 
specific enough to meet the case), but — 
in the letter which I sent you before, 
not to associate with immoral people. 
Some have supposed that a fragment of 
the letter alluded to survives in 2 Cor. 
vi. 14-vii. I. In 2 Cor. vii. 8, Paul re- 
fers apparently to i Cor. in a phrase 
identical with that used here — in the let- 
ter. He thought the meaning of such 
advice was plain on the face of it : in 
giving it (I did) not at all (mean) that 
they were to have nothing to do with the 
immoral people of this, that is, the non- 
Christian, world, or with the greedy and 
rapacious (one class, under one article 
rocs : the apirayes are the unscrupulously 
covetous) or with idolaters. That would 
have been absurd, for two reasons: (i) 
because Corinth teemed with such people, 
and the ordinary business of life must 
have involved perpetual contact with them ; 
and (ii) because Christianity can only in- 
fluence society by contact with it : here 
again, a little leaven will, in time, leaven 
the whole lump (cf. Mat. xiii. ^2>r Luke 
xiii. 21). Such advice, then, would have 
been out of the question, for in that case, 
you would have had to leave the world. 

II. But as a matter of fact, what I 
really meant, when I wrote to you, was 
this. The words may equally well mean ; 
But now — to avoid all misunderstanding 
— / zvrite to you not to, etc. (the so-called 
epistolary aorist). In either case, what 
Paul meant (or means) is this: if a man 
bearing the name of Christian brother, 
that is, a church member, be given to im- 
morality, or greed, or idolatry, or abuse, 
or drunkenness, or rapacity, you are not 
to associate with that sort of man nor 



even to eat with him. The purity of the 
church must be preserved at all costs, and 
all intercourse with men of this type, even 
friendly acts of hospitality, were to be sus- 
pended ; they were brothers only in name. 
If this catalogue of sins gives us a real 
glimpse into the composition of the Corin- 
thian church, no measures could be too 
drastic for its purification. 

12, 13. But Paul makes it plain that he 
claims no jurisdiction beyond the church. 
For what business is it of mine to judge 
those that are outside? I act just as 
you act yourselves. Is that not your own 
practice {i'lJ-eis) —to judge those that are 
inside, while of those that are outside 
neither 3^ou, nor I, but God is the judge 
(KpbeL^ better read as present than future, 
KpLvel). Is there a touch of irony in the 
phrase "ye judge those that are within"? 
In the flagrant case upon which Paul pro- 
nounces so heavy a judgment (vv. 3-5), 
so far were they from judging it that they 
regarded it with indifference and even 
conceit. Hence Paul's peremptory com- 
mand in conclusion : Remove the wicked 
man from your own midst (ver. 13). 
Excommunicate all such (cf. ver. 11), — 
in particular he is thinking of the sinner 
who had taken his father's wife. Over 
wncked men beyond the pale of the church 
you have no judicial powers; but it is your 
solemn duty (cf. Deut. xxiv. 7) to purify 
the church. 



The church must respect her ideals and 
take practical steps to conserve them. Her 
members must not " go out of the world " 
which it is their duty to leaven, but she 
must send out of her communion those 
who, by a deliberately sinful life, have 
betrayed her and her Lord. And the apos- 
tle leaves it to the members of the church 
to effect this excommunication. In Paul's 
conception of church polity, the members 
count for much (cf. ver. 4). 



38 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VI 



CHAPTER 6. 

1 Dare any of you, having a matter 
against another, go to law before the 
unjust, and not before the saints? 

2 Do ye not know that the saints shall 
judge the world? and if the world shall 



be judged by you, are ye unworthy to 
judge the smallest matters? 

3 Know ye not that we shall judge 
angels? how much more things that per- 
tain to this life? 

4 li then ye have judgments of things 
pertaining to this life, set them to judge 
who are least esteemed in the church. 



Christian Disputes and Heathen Courts (vi. 
i-ii). 

This epistle glides easily and naturally 
from one topic to another. The incidental 
reference to "judging" in ch. _ v. 12, sug- 
gests the larger question of litigation, and 
the relation of the Corinthian Christians 
to the ordinary legal processes and law 
courts. Is a Christian at liberty to avail 
himself of these, in case of a dispute be- 
tween himself and a brother Christian? 
In spite of the indefinite tis in ver. i, the 
plurals in the following verses (cf. ver. 
7, "Ye have lawsuits with one another"), 
and the earnestness of the whole _ discus- 
sion, strongly suggest that this point had 
been practically raised several times. 

1. Does any of you, that has a mat- 
ter in dispute with another Christian have 
the hardihood to go to law before (the) 
unrighteous judges, instead of before 
(the) saints? To do this is an act of 
effrontery (toX/jlo.) to the brotherly spirit 
that ought to animate the Christian 
church (cf. vv. 6, 8), besides being, at 
bottom, an ethical absurdity ; for why 
should men who have been justified 

(idiKaiuOrjTe) go before the unjust (adiKoi) 

for justice F Christians who are called to 
be saints (i. 2), should have any disputes 
that may arise settled by men of their own 
type. The characterization of the heathen 
judges as unjust is not to be taken too 
seriously; there may be a touch of irony 
in it; the word is simply = unbeliever 
(ver. 6). Paul had a real respect for 
properly constituted authority (Rom. xiy. 
i) and himself appealed to Caesar. The 
disputes about which Paul is thinking arc, 
in particular, those that concern property 
(ver. 8) ; and the materialistic spirit, which 
such litigation revealed, was the very con- 
tradiction of the spirit which should be 
theirs, as Christians. The Greeks were 
fond of litigation, with its discussions and 
excitements ; and it would not be easy for 
them to shake themselves free of this dis- 
position, even after they became Christians. 

2, 3. Or, continues Paul, if you persist 
in this practice, it must be because you 
have forgotten that, in the divine economy, 



you are the real judges of the world. Do 
you not know — this phrase occurs six 
times in this chapter (vv. 2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 
19), and probably always in this letter 
with a slightly ironical flavor : men so 
wise as you Corinthians ought to know 
this — that the saints shall judge {kplvovclv, 
fut., better than KpLvovcLv, judge) the world. 
Ramsay {Expositor, 1900, p. 279) main- 
tains that " an undertone of sarcasm, al- 
most of banter, is to be understood as 
ruling throughout vi. 2-4," and that we do 
not here have " a serious description of 
the future powers and duties of Christians." 
This may be : a playful thrust of this kind 
would be quite in the manner of Paul. 
But on the other hand, the reference can 
be explained in terms of contemporary be- 
lief. According to Dan. vii. 22, judgment 
v/as to be given to the saints of the Most 
High ; and when the Son of Man should 
sit upon the throne of His glory, those 
who had followed Him were also to sit 
on thrones judging the twelve tribes of 
Israel (Mat. xix. 28, Luke xxii. 30). The 
privilege of judging would be theirs when 
the Messianic kingdom had come (cf. iv. 8). 
And if THE WORLD (0 Koaixos, emphatic) 
appears before you {^v v/hIp, m or through 
an assembly of yours) for judgment, are 
ye then unworthy of sitting upon the 
smallest tribunals — that is, tribunals 
where petty cases arc tried. The future 
judges of the world should surely be capa- 
ble of judging trifles. Verse 3 repeats this 
thought in other words : do ye not know 
that we are to judge not only men but 
angels — the two together make up the 
world (iv. 9) — to say nothing at all of 
ordinary things (lit. the things of ordi- 
nary life: (cf. Luke xxi. 34), 

4. Whatever this verse means, it is at 
any rate spoken " to shame " the Corin- 
thians, and this may give some clue to its 
interpretation. The question turns (a) 
upon whether those zvho are of no account 
in the church are the heathen judges or 
insignificant members of the church, and 
(b) upon whether KaOii;eTe is indicative or 
imperative. If then it is ordinary cases 
(PiioTiKa.^ very emphatic: echo of last word 
of last sentence) that you have to try, 



Ch. VI] 



I COEINTHIANS. 



39 



5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, 
that there is not a wise man among you? 
no, not one that shall be able to judge 
between his brethren? 

6 But brother goeth to law with brother, 
and that before the unbelievers. 

7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault 
among you, because ye go to law one with 
another. Why do ye not rather take 
wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer 
yourselves to be defrauded? 



8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and 
that your brethren. 

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous 
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? 
Be not deceived ; neither fornicators, nor 
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, 
nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor 
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, 
shall inherit the kingdom of God. 



what then? In that case, either (a) ap- 
point insignificant church members to set- 
tle such disputes, — the humblest abilities 
will be adequate for such a task: or (b) 
you appoint heathen judges to settle such 
disputes. (The latter alternative may also 
be read as a question: do you appoint?) 
(b) seems the more vigorous interpreta- 
tion : it is those who are of no account in 
the church — it is these (tovtovs, emphatic) 
whom you set on the judge's seat. Men 
who were destined to judge angels, went 
for the settlement of trivial affairs to 
heathen judges: I speak to shame you. 
There are two difficulties in this interpre- 
tation, neither of which is insurmountable, 
(i) Kadi^ere is inappropriate, as the Chris- 
tians did not appoint the heathen judges: 
but the word might well be used loosely 
— especially as the feeling throughout is 
tense — for the deliberate recognition of 
the heathen judge: these are (or are 
these?) the men you set over the decision 
of your disputes : (ii) It is said that " those 
who are of no account in the church " 
would be an unlikely phrase for Paul to 
apply to the ordinary Greek judges (cf. 
Rom. xiii. i). But (a) it would be al- 
most equally unlikely, on the other view, 
to apply to a Christian brother ; and (b) it 
is really no more objectionable than the 
epithet " unrighteous " in ver. i. Such 
men were of no account in the church, 
as the members of the church were of no 
account in the world {i^ovdevTuxeva, i. 28, 
same word). 

5, 6. If the Corinthians take their cases 
before heathen judges, where, asks Paul 
satirically, is their own much vaunted 
wisdom? Is there such an utter lack of 
wisdom among you, not a single wise 
man who will be able to decide between 
his brethren (lit. his brother: apparently 
used loosely). Instead of that, however, 
brother goes to law with brother — bad 
enough in itself, for it is a contradiction of 
the spirit of Christian brotherhood, but in- 
finitely aggravated by the fact that they 
took their cases before judges who were | 



not Christians — and that before unbe- 
lievers (ver. 6). Brethren should settle 
disputes in a brotherly spirit — without the 
apparatus of courts, but, at most, by arbi- 
tration, by appealing to the " decision " of 
some other " wise " and impartial brother. 
The question begun in ver. 5 may also be 
taken as continued into ver. 6; so A. R. V. 

In verses 7, 8, Paul cuts to the root 
of the matter. For Christians to take 
their disputes before unbelievers was de- 
plorable ; but more deplorable still was it 
that they should have disputes of this kind 
at all — it was nothing less then a moral 
defect. Nay, at the outset, it is nothing 
short of a defect on your part that you 
have lawsuits with one another at all. 
It shows that you do not clearly under- 
stand what is involved in allegiance to 
Christ ; with those who are His, the spiritual 
must be paramount, and their life will not 
consist in the abundance of the things that 
they possess. In that case, why do you, 
if you are truly His, not rather bear the 
wrong? why not bear the robbery? But 
— so far from that — you yourselves 
(vfxeLs), brethren and Christ's own though 
you profess to be, are guilty of the wrong 
and robbery, yes, and towards brethren 
too. 

9, 10. You wise Corinthians seem to 
have forgotten where all this wrongdoing 
ends. You may score a paltry success in 
the courts, but it will shut you out of a 
title to God's kingdom. Or do you not 
know that wrongdoers — the very word 
(aSt/coi) he had applied in ver. i to the • 
heathen judges; that is the level to which 
such conduct reduces them — shall not in- 
herit God's kingdom? It was easy for 
the Corinthians, in their frivolous, im- 
moral city, to forget the stern demands of 
the religion they professed; but do not 
deceive yourselves; for they certainly 
shall not inherit the kingdom of God, 
whether their wrongdoing take the form 
of immorality or greed — for these are 
the chief classes of sins covered by the 
following list — neither fornicators nor 



40 



I COKINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VI 



II And such were some of you: but 
ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but 
ye are justified in the name of the Lord 
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 



12 All things are lawful unto me, but 
all things are not expedient: all things are 
lawful for me, but I will not be brought 
under the power of any. 



idolaters (idolatry appropriately mentioned 
at this point, as the cult of Aphrodite in 
Corinth was immoral) nor adulterers, nor 
those who practice or lend themselves 
to unnatural lust, nor thieves, nor greedy 
men, nor any given to drunkenness, re- 
viling, or extortion. 

II. And such (lit. these things), in the 
past, were not indeed all, but some of 
you: this goes a long way to explain the 
facility with which the Corinthians re- 
lapsed into lower moral ideals and prac- 
tices, and also to illustrate the degrada- 
tion out of which the gospel had to lift 
men; but, as it was the power of God, it 
had transformed them, when, in the rite 
of baptism, they had signified their ac- 
ceptance of it: you washed yourselves 
(or you had yourselves washed) : the ref- 
erence is to baptism [cf. Acts xxii. i6], 
the aor. indicating the moment (not "ye 
are washed," as A. V.), and the middle 
indicating the Corinthian response to the 
divine call. Yes (dWd^ but: repeated with 
great emphasis) you were sanctified, yes, 
you were justified. These words do not 
here mean "made holy, and made right- 
eous "— context, and (at least in the case 
of diKaiovv) usage are against this — but 
simply, "set apart and justified"; the same 
act is described from two points of view, 
in an order the reverse of the usual one. 
These words are appropriately in the pas- 
sive, because they indicate the result of 
the divine action upon the Corinthian be- 
lievers. All these three acts — baptism, 
sanctification and justification — were ef- 
fected in the name of the (or our) Lord 
Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our 
God. In particular, baptism is in the name 
of Jesus (the Trinitarian formula is not 
yet in use. Mat. xxviii. 19), and sanctifica- 
tion is the work of the spirit; but more 
generally, the last two clauses are to be 
taken with all three verbs. The new life 
depends both upon God and Jesus. 

Here again, as in his discussion of the 
party spirit (ch. iii), Paul, by a smiple 
contrast between the unlovely reality and 
the glorious Christian facts, produces an 
effect more powerful than a direct rebuke. 
The unbrotherly conduct of the Corin- 
thians in wronging one another, and in 
carrying their paltry disputes before 



heathen courts, is so utterly unworthy of 
men who have been baptized, justified and 
sanctified, that they must have been in- 
stantly struck by its incongruity. Indeed 
their conduct shows how poorly they have 
learned the lesson of Him in whose name 
they have been baptized, and is imperilling 
their chances of the kingdom of heaven. 
Again we feel the tremendous moral ear- 
nestness which breathes through the words 
of Paul : the heirs of that kingdom must 
be men with no taint of lust or greed upon 
their souls. 

Paul is not here pleading for ecclesiastical 
courts, to rival the civil courts of the 
heathen. What he desiderates is not more 
machinery, or another organization, but 
another spirit, the spirit of brotherliness — 
not a Christian court, but the arbitration 
of a wise Christian brother. This is the 
only course worthy of men who have been 
baptized and sanctified. 



The Limit of Liberty (vi. 12-20). 

The return to the subject of immorality, 
which Paul had already discussed in the 
preceding chapter, shows how subtly and 
seriously Paul conceived the life of the 
Corinthian church to be menaced by the 
usages of ordinary society. Besides the 
practical temptations to which the mem- 
bers of the church were continually ex- 
posed, they were subject to the almost 
more dangerous temptation of justifying 
theoretically a loose attitude to morality, 
and even of resting their justification upon 
words of the apostle's own. This is the 
situation which he meets in the ensuing 
paragraph. 

12. All things are in my power These 
are words probably borrowed by the Co- 
rinthians from Paul himself, and were 
probably often on their lips. cf. x. 23. 
Plainly Paul did not literally mean that 
everything was lawful ; such a union as 
that of ver. 16, for example, was not only 
the degradation, but the destruction of the 
believer's relation to Christ. But all thmgs 
that are morally indifferent are as lawful 
to him as to anybody: still he will not 
make indiscriminate use of this wide lib- 
erty; of the things which are lawful he 
will adopt only such as are profitable, to 
himself or to others. There is a play on 



Ch. VI] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



41 



13 Meats for the belly, and the belly 
for meats : but God shall destroy both it 
and them. Now the body is not for forni- 
cation, but for the Lord; and the Lord 
for the body. 

14 And God hath both raised up the 
Lord, and will also raise up us by his own 
power. 



15 Know ye not that your bodies are 
the members of Christ ? shall I then take 
the members of Christ, and make them the 
members of a harlot? God forbid. 

16 What! know ye not that he which 
is joined to a harlot is one body? for 
two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 



the words eiecrnv and i^ovaiaadriaofxai. All 
things are in my pozver: true, but they 
are not all profitable. All things are in 
my power.- true, but I, for my part {ey^) 
will not let myself be brought under 
the power of anything. He must not 
only be free, he must remain free : he is 
not free to forfeit his freedom. He must 
be the master of all things, he must not 
allow any of them to become his master: 
he is not free, for example, to join himself 
to a harlot, or to any other person or in- 
fluence that estranges him from Christ. 
There his freedom ends. 

13. Some of the Greeks, however, ap- 
pear to have argued that one appetite is 
as much entitled to satisfaction as an- 
other. The bodily appetite has its grati- 
fication in something outside of it ; each is 
made for, and adapted to, the other. For 
example, meats for the belly and the 
belly for meats; that appetite demands 
satisfaction, and finds it legitimately in 
food. By easy analogy it might then be 
argued : the body for fornication, and for- 
nication for the body — for why should 
that appetite also, like the other, not be 
satisfied in that way? There were two 
errors in this reasoning, argues Paul. 
Firstly, there is no real analogy between 
meats and the stomach on the one hand, 
and the body on the other ; the former 
belonged to the eyanescent order — God 
shall bring to nought both it and them, 
for the fashion of this world p asset h 
away (vii. 31) ; the body, on the other 
hand, belongs to the eternal order — it 
shall be raised up (ver. 14, cf. xv.). But 
secondly, the body is NOT for fornica- 
tion, but for the Lord; and the Lord 
for the body. The body is an instrument 
for the service of the Lord ; in and through 
the body we carry out His will upon the 
earth. And the Lord is for the body ; as 
He needs it, so it needs Him. '"' Without 
Him the body cannot develop into all it 
is intended to be." Between the two there 
is a mutual dependence ; and the only 
argument, legitimate to a Christian, that 
can be drawn from the wonderful adapta- 
tion of appetites to their means of gratifi- 
cation, is that his body is for the use of 



the Lord, and the Lord for the redemption 
of his body. 

14. The correspondence between 13b 
and 14, each beginning with 5e QeSs, is 
very striking, and forms part of the ar- 
gument. God will destroy it and them: 
but us, that is, our body. He will raise 
up, because He raised up the Lord. The 
argument would have been clearer, as 
Lietzmann says, if Paul had written " our 
bodies " instead of " us." The double aai 
is intended to connect very closely us and 
Him, to involve us in His experience of 
resurrection. But God both raised up 
the Lord and He will raise us up also 
through His power — for He is omnip- 
otent. The body is distinguished here, as 
usually in Paul, from the flesh, and there- 
fore from the KOiXia (belly) ; flesh cannot 
inherit the kingdom of God, but the body 
is raised, spiritual and glorious (ch. xv.). 

So for two reasons, the Corinthian an- 
alogy falls to the ground; the body is not 
for fornication, but for the Lord; and it 
will not be reduced to nothing, but raised 
and ''conformed to the body of His 
glory." (Phil. iii. 21). 

15. Do you not know — you ought to 
know — that your bodies are members of 
Christ, identified with Him as closely as 
the hand is identified with the body. Shall 
I then — a question all the more striking, 
that he puts it in the first person instead 
of in the second — take away the mem- 
bers of my body, which, as I am Christ's, 
are also the members of Christ, and 
make them a harlot's members? The 
very supposition is too awful to contem- 
plate. God forbid: these words give the 
flavor of f^v yevoiTo here ("let it not hap- 
pen"). Christ and the harlot are here 
conceived as the rival claimants of the 
human soul : a man cannot at the same 
time belong to both. If his members be 
given to the harlot, they must be taken 
(dpas) from Christ. 

16. Or do you not know — the fact is 
plain enough to one who remembers his Bible 
— that he that cleaves to a harlot (rrj, 
the particular woman wath whom he is 
sinning) is one body? — not two; the act 
constitutes a real identity of the man with 



42 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VI 



17 But he that is joined unto the Lord 
is one spirit. 

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a 
man doeth is without the body; but he 
that committeth fornication sinneth against 
his own body. 

19 What ! know ye not that your body 



is the temple of the Holy Ghost njhich is 
in you, which ye have of God, and ye are 
not your own? 

20 For ye are bought with a price; 
therefore glorify God in your body, and 
in your spirit, which are God's. 



his partner. For in Genesis ii. 24, Scrip- 
ture (or God: in reality Adam) says, 
the two shall become one flesh. The 

original reference is to marriage ; but the 
act that creates the identity is the same. 
Now there is an equally real union — 
KoWufiepos, the same word, is used — be- 
tween the believer and the Lord, but it is 
a spiritual one — But he that cleaveth to 
the Lord is one — the argument almost 
leads us to expect body; but Paul substi- 
tutes — spirit — The Christian is moving 
in another world altogether than that of 
the flesh with its appetites and lusts. 

18. Paul now gathers up the argument 
in a brief, impassioned warning, the more 
peremptory that there is no connecting par- 
ticle : flee fornication: do not fight, but 
flee. Victory over this sin lies in retreat. 
In some ways it is the most deadly sin of 
all : for every act of sin that a man may 
commit is outside the body, but the for- 
nicator sins against his own body. This 
has seemed to some the language of exag- 
geration ; for is drunkenness, even glut- 
tony, not also a sin against a man's own 
body ? Undoubtedly ; but not in the same 
awful sense. To appreciate the true hei- 
nousness of immorality, as Paul under- 
stood it, we must remember the terrible 
contrast in verses 16, 17. The essence of 
it is a definite and deliberate union, by 
means of the body, with the Tropv-q^ who is 
the rival and enemy of Christ; the im- 
moral man, has, by this uni^n, alienated his 
ethical and religious personality — alienated 
it by means of the body which was given 
him to express that personality in the 
service of the Lord : for the body is for 
the Lord. Relatively speaking, then, such 
sins as drunkenness are external, while 
this sin cleaves to the roots of the ethical 
being, and is a fearful and radical con- 
tradiction of the idea of Christian person- 
ality. 

19. The body against which the im- 
moral man sins, is his own ; therein lies 
the folly of his sin. But it is not his 
own, it is the Lord's, and it is God's : 
therein lies the horror of it. Or do you 
not know, as a Christian ought to know, 
that your body is the temple of the 
Holy Spirit in you? Paul has already 



made use of this thought, and given a 
collective turn to it : "ye — the church as 
a whole — are the temple of God, and the 
spirit of God dwells in you — as a whole" 
(iii. 16). Here the application is personal 
and individual. The holy spirit — what a 
gift and what a giver! none other than 
God Himself: it is the spirit which ye 
have from God: and how shall this holy 
spirit dwell in an unholy, desecrated body? 

20. Besides, you are not your own at 
all. Paul had just spoken of the man's 
body as his own; in the deepest sense, this 
is not true. You do not belong to your- 
selves; for you were bought — bought by 
God — and you therefore belong to Him 
who bought you : the price was paid to the 
law (Gal. iii. 13). Bought with a price; 
the simple word is more effective than if 
the apostle had said, " with a great price," 
though this is the meaning; for the price 
(ti/xt]) is the precious (rifiiov) blood of 
Christ (i Pet. i. 19; cf. Eph. i. 7). 

The negative warning of ver. 18 is now 
followed by a positive appeal : not only 
flee fornication, but — as your bodies are 
not your own, but God's — glorify God 
then, not only in your spirit, but also in 
your body, especially by chastity. The 
body, which is the Lord's, must be so 
used as to contribute to the glory of God. 
The words Kai iv tw irvev/xari v/xcip^ aTivd. 
eaTL Tov Oeov (" and in your spirit, which 
are God's") are a gloss. 



Paul's arguments against the immoral 
license apparently claimed by some of the 
Corinthians are brief but very trenchant. 
The fundamental passion of the Christian 
should be for his Lord ; and every pas- 
sion inconsistent with that should be " fled." 
To indulge in immorality is to ignore the 
fact that the body is for the Lord — His 
instrument and servant : it is to identify 
one's self with a principle and a person 
alien to Christ: it is to sin even against 
the body itself, by using it to violate the 
Christian personality it was intended to 
express : it is to outrage the rights of the 
God who bought us by the precious blood 
of His Son. 



Ch. VII] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



43 



CHAPTER 7. 

1 Now concerning the things whereof 
ye wrote unto me : It is good for a man 
not to touch a woman. 

2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let 
every man have his own wife, and let 
every woman have her own husband. 



3 Let the husband render unto the wife 
due benevolence ; and likewise also the 
wife unto the husband. 

4 The wife hath not power of her own 
body, but the husband : and likewise also 
the husband hath not power of his own 
bod}^ but the wife. 



The Marriage Question (vii. 1-40). 

At this point Paul begins to deal specif- 
ically with questions raised by the Corin- 
thian letter to which his own is a reply 
(cf. ver. 25; viii. i) ; and the present dis- 
cussion of marriage appropriately follows 
the discussion of sexual morality with 
which the previous chapter had concluded. 
Much injustice has been done to Paul by 
forgetting that this chapter (vii) was not 
intended to be an exhaustive treatment 
of the marriage question. It is a reply 
to certain questions raised by the Corin- 
thians; the whole discussion has to be 
read in the light of the opening clause — 
Now concerning the things whereof ye 
wrote (ver. i). No doubt this chapter 
would be much clearer, if we had the let- 
ter to which Paul is replying. It can only 
be reconstructed by conjecture, and with 
regard to its contents and spirit there is 
room for wide difference of opinion. 
Temptations to immorality abounded in 
Corinth : the Christian conscience was 
practically exercised by the problem how 
they were best to be met. Some scholars 
hold that the Corinthians had proposed 
celibacy as a solution ; others, that their 
solution lay in universal marriage. How- 
ever that may be, the incompleteness of 
the discussion is explained by the fact that 
it is a reply to questions raised in a let- 
ter : and the defense of marriage as a 
safe-guard against immorality (ver. 2) — 
a defense so much lower than we should 
have expected from Paul — is explained 
by the fact that he is writing to the in- 
habitants of a notoriously immoral city. 
Paul's own view of marriage was much 
more exalted than we should be inclined 
to gather from this chapter, and receives 
its noblest expression in Ephesians, ch. v. 

It has further to be remembered that 
when Paul wrote, he was looking for the 
speedy coming of Christ. The time was 
shortened (ver. 29) ; the fashion of this 
world was passing away (ver. 31) : and 
marriage meant new cares, distractions and 
entanglements. The more free from care 
(ver. 32) a man was, the more free was 
he for the service of his Lord. Thus the 



discussion is as remote as it could be from 
an abstract treatment of the question: it 
is governed throughout by local and tem- 
poral considerations, and can only be 
properly understood in the light of them. 



Marriage or Celibacy? (vii. 1-7). 

I, 2. Now (the 5e' passes to a new sub- 
ject or phase of the subject) concerning 
the things you wrote me about, I have 
to say that it is good for a man not to 
touch a woman, that is, to lead a celibate 
life. He says it is good {Ka\6v), he does 
not here say that it is best, nor even that 
is better than something else (but see ver. 
38) : but simply that it is good, seemly — 
apparently as against some one who had 
thought or' said that it was not good, but 
bad, unseemly. Paul is not arguing against 
marriage : he is simply defending celibacy 
against its detractors. avdpd^Trto^ for a human 
being, _ generalizes the statement, as the 
following verse shows. Still, good as ce- 
libacy is, it IS not advisable in such a 
place as Corinth : there, on account of 
the notorious immoralities (pi.) let each 
man have his own wife, and let each 
woman have her proper husband (ver, 
2). It is not simply that each may have, 
but in such an immoral atmosphere, he 
ought to have a consort. There is a real, 
but not a serious difference between ozvn 
and proper — the husband is the head of 
the wife : but the whole discussion shows 
that contrary to Jewish and Greek opinion, 
there is to be in Christianity an essential 
equality between husband and wife. This 
relatively low justification of marriage is ex- 
plained by the situation at Corinth, where, 
with the prevalent worship of Aphrodite, 
temptations would be unusually abundant. 

3, 4. To the wife — mentioned first 
(cf. ver. 10) — let the husband pay the 
debt of conjugal duty, and in like manner 
also the wife to the husband. The read- 
ing (6(peL\ofjievrip evvoiav) on which A. V. 
{due benevolence) is based, is a gloss on 
6(p€L\riv, which means a debt (Mat. xviii. 
32) — here the conjugal debt. Married 
people are not to live like celibates: each 



44 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VII 



5 Defraud ye not one the other, except 
it be with consent for a time, that ye may 
give yourselves to fasting and prayer ; and 
come together again, that Satan tempt 
you not for your incontinency. 



6 But I speak this by permission, and 
not of commandment. 

7 For 1 would that all men were even 
as I myself. But every man hath his 
proper gift of God, one after this manner, 
and another after that. 



owes the other a debt which has to be 
paid. For the wife has no authority over 
her own body, but the husband — it is 

her own, yet not her own : and in like 
manner also the husband has no author- 
ity over his own body, but the wif e — 

it is his own, yet not his own. Here 
again, as in ver. 3, the balance of clauses, 
and the use of 6/ioiws, show how com- 
pletely the sexes are conceived by Paul as 
on an equality. 

5. Do not rob one another, then, of 
the debt which ought to be paid — to with- 
hold it is fraud. But while the Corinthians 
must frankly, and without attempting an 
unwise asceticism, acknowledge the facts, 
they must not forget the greatest fact of 
all — religion, and in their married life 
provision must be made for it, though 
Paul suggests the provision in a very 
modest and tentative fashion — unless it 
should be perhaps by mutual consent 
and temporarily: the abstinence has to be 
only for a season, to it both {(tw) parties 
are to be agreed, and the object of it is, 
that ye may be free for the exercise of 
special prayer (Trpoffevxv has the article, as 
has the corresponding plur. word in Acts 
ii. 42). The aorist (o-xoXdo-Tjre) suggests 
special occasions : the relations suspended 
by these seasons of prayer have to be 
resumed — and that ye may be together 
again. A somewhat lurid light is cast 
upon the excitability of the Corinthian 
temperament by the reason assigned for 
this special advice : it is that Satan may 
not tempt you by reason of your incon- 
tinence. The standing nature of the 
temptation is suggested by the present 
(Treipdfr?). Fasting is a later ascetic inter- 
polation, exactly as in Mark ix. 29. 

6, 7. Paul is well aware that all men 
have not the splendid self-restraint which 
he himself enjoys — he wishes they had; 
and his advice is given as a concession to 
the weakness of human nature, especially 
of Greek nature exposed to Corinthian 
temptations. And this — apparently em- 
bracing all the instructions in vv. 2-5 re- 
garding the practical necessity of marriage 
— I say by way of concession, not by 
way of commandment. The meaning is 
not that Paul gave these instructions by 
permission of, though not at the command- 



ment of, the Lord; but that his own words 
are to be understood as a concession, not 
as an injunction to the Corinthians. Such 
concessions would not be necessary, if men 
were not incontinent, (cf. dnpaaia, 5 ; dia 
TCLs TTopveias, 2), if they had Paul's purity 
and self-control : I wish that all men 
were like ME. The meaning may also 
be : " Celibacy is a good thing, though, 
considering the situation, it is well for you 
to marry, but I wish that all men were 
celibate like myself." But besides perhaps 
reading too definite a meaning into words 
which are vague, this interpretation does 
not connect so well as the other with the 
following verse : but each man has his 
own peculiar endowment of grace from 
God — one in this fashion, another in 
that. Paul can hardly mean that he has 
the endowment of celibacy, and another 
man of marriage — neither of these states 
could properly be described as a x°-P^'^f^°- — 
but rather that he has the gift of continence 
in this regard, while other men have other 
gifts. 

Paul's power of grappling in a practical 
way with a difificult situation is here finely 
illustrated. Though an idealist, his feet 
are always on terra iirma. He knows 
human nature through and through ; and 
he writes with a complete understanding 
of the average man. He makes no im- 
possible or unnatural demands. He does 
not expect his readers to conform their 
lives to his, for the gifts of men differ; 
but he expects them to shape those lives 
with all the facts in view — the fact of 
weakness and temptation on the one hand 
(ver. 2), and of religion and its obliga- 
tions on the other (ver. 5). 

Marriage and Separation (vii. 8-17). 

In cases where both of the married 
people were Christians, and still more 
where one was a Christian, while the 
other remained pagan, there would some- 
times arise a desire for separation: the 
problems thus emerging are considered in 
this paragraph. But before dealing with 
them, the apostle briefly directs attention 
to the case of those who have no partner, 
whether because they have never been 
married, or because the partner is dead. 



Oh. VII] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



45 



8 I say therefore to the unmarried and 
widows, It is good for them if they abide 
€ven as I. 

9 But if they cannot contain, let them 
marry : for it is better to marry than to 
burn. 

10 And unto the married I command, 
yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife 
depart from her husband : 

11 But and if she depart, let her re- 



main unmarried, or be reconciled to her 
husband : and let not the husband put away 
his wife. 

12 But to the rest speak I, not the 
Lord : If any brother hath a wife that 
believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell 
with him, let him not put her away. 

13 And the woman which hath a hus- 
band that believeth not, and if he be pleased 
to dwell with her, let her not. leave him. 



8. But I say to the unmarried and the 
widows: it is seemly (KaXou^ same word 
as in ver. i) for them if they remain as 
I. This may be fairly taken to imply that 
Paul was either a bachelor or a widower : 
there is no proof, and no probability that 
the yokefellow in Phil. iv. 3 was his wife. 
As the case of widows is dealt with later 
(ver. 39), it is possible to adopt the sug- 
gestion that an original roh xvpois (wid- 
owers) has been altered to the more fa- 
miliar widows. In that case, the two mas- 
culine words (" unmarried " and " wid- 
owers ") might be taken to cover the 
feminine — the general meaning be " those 
of either sex who have (now) no part- 
ner " ; but against that is the fact that the 
case of " maidens " comes in for separate 
discussion (w, 25 ff.). The text is prob- 
ably correct as it stands. 

9. If, like Paul, the unmarried can be 
continent, koKov^ it is well : but, if they 
have no power over themselves, let them 
marry: not because of two evils the less 
should be chosen, for Paul does not say 
and does not mean that marriage is evil ; 
but because marriage is moral, while desire 
of this kind is at once dangerous and 
sinful. For it is better to marry once 
for all (aorist) than to be continually 
consumed (pres. tense) by the flames of 
passion (ver. 9). 

10. II. He now deals with the case of 
married Christians. Now to those who 
liave, or (almost as w^e should say) are 
married: as vv. 12 ff. contemplates the 
case of mixed marriages, he is thinking 
here of Christian couples ; I give this 
charge. For what he is about to say, he 
bas the direct authority of the historical 
Jesus himself (Mat. v. 32, Mark x. 11, 
Luke xvi. 18) • and so, it is really not I, 
but the Lord, who gives this charge, 
namely, that wife do not separate herself 
from husband. The wife may be men- 
tioned first, because she would probably 
be the more inclined to adopt an ascetic 
course. But if, for any reason, whether 
in the interests of a mistaken asceticism, 
or for some less adequate reason, she do ! 



(/cat, actually) separate, let her, at any 
rate, on no account marry again, but re- 
main unmarried or be reconciled to her 
husband. After this parenthesis con- 
templating the case of separation, the apos- 
tle goes on, and husband (I charge) not 
to dismiss wife. According to Mat. v. 
2>2, Jesus had prohibited dismissal " save 
for the cause of fornication." It is very 
possible, however, that in the original 
form of the words, this exception was 
not made (cf. Mark x. 11, Luke xvi. 18), 
and that might account for the absolute 
form of Paul's " charge " here ; but it is 
more probable that Paul is considering 
separations which have a less serious 
ground than that of adultery. 

12. He now passes to the remaining 
cases — of mixed marriage. But to the 
rest — those couples one of whom was 
Christian and the other pagan — I say 
(he does not use the stronger word 
charge, as in ver. 10: he has no definite 
word of Jesus to go on). I, not the Lord. 
Jesus had no occasion to consider the 
question of mixed marriages ; conse- 
quently there is no authoritative word 
from Him on this subject, as there w^as 
on the other, ver. 10. Hence it is not 
he, but Paul that speaks; but it must not 
be forgotten that Paul is a '"' spiritual 
man," who, as such, " tests all things " 
(ii. 15). He is still, in that sense, inspired. 
When, in this passage, he claims that the 
Lord speaks, he does not mean that he 
himself has been the recipient of a special 
revelation, but that he rests his statements 
upon some spoken word of Jesus : when 
he speaks, and not the Lord, there Is no 
such recorded word of Jesus ; nevertheless 
his statements have all the weight of his 
inspired personality. 

12, 13. What he says is this : If any 
Christian brother has a wife that does 
not believe — married to him, in all prob- 
ability, before he became a Christian (Paul 
is opposed to mixed marriages, 2 Cor. vi. 
14 f.) — and this woman jointly {<jvv) 
consents to live with him, let him not 
dismiss her. There would be every 



46 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VII 



14 For the unbelieving husband is sanc- 
tified by the wife, and the unbeUeving wife 
is sanctified by the husband : else were 
your children unclean ; but now are they 
holy. 

15 But if the unbelieving depart, let 
him depart. A brother or a sister is not 



under bondage in such cases; but God 
hath called us to peace. 

16 For what knowest thou, O wife, 
whether thou shalt save thy husband? or 
how knowest thou, O man, whether thou 
shalt save thy wife? 



temptation to get rid of an unbelieving 
partner, on the plea that high Christian 
life was impossible in union with one who 
differed so radically on the deepest things ; 
but even in such a case, the sanctity of 
the marriage bond is to be upheld. The 
first step towards separation must not be 
taken by the Christian partner. The sexes 
are on an equality; and therefore, a 
woman who has a husband that is an 
unbeliever, and this man jointly con- 
sents to live with her, let her not dismiss 
her husband, dcpcevai is the word com- 
monly used for the dismissal of the woman 
by the man : the fact that it is used 
equally of both sexes, together with the 
fine and studious balance of the clauses, 
shows how absolutely, in the mind of Paul, 
the sexes were upon a level in these deeper 
matters. 

14. The divorce of the heathen partner 
is not to be thought of: for the unbe- 
lieving husband has been sanctified in 
his union with the Christian wife, and the 
unbelieving wife has been sanctified in 
her union with the Christian brother. 
The Christian partner is not desecrated by 
this union, as by the awful union of vi. 15. 
Again note the balance and repetition of 
the clauses. In both clauses, the emphatic 
word is 'hyia<TTai^ and the idea is : heathen 
though the partner be, he (or she) has a 
certain standing _(pf.) of holiness. Of 
course, it is not implied that there was 
any personal holiness: that is an inner 
state, and cannot be conferred by an out- 
ward union. But the holiness of the one 
partner is, by the intimacy of their union, 
thrown about the other, and their mar- 
riage is, in some sense, Christian marriage ; 
for, were this not so, then it follows that 
your children are unclean, while as a 
matter of fact (vvv) they are holy. The 
argument starts from the fact, which is 
regarded as indisputable, that the children 
must be considered " holy," even where 
only one of the parents is a Christian — 
the principle of family solidarity demands 
as much; then it goes on — as the bond 
with one Christian parent sanctifies the 
children, so the bond with one Christian 
partner sanctifies the other partner. No 



secure inference can be drawn from this 
passage regarding infant baptism. 

15. The principle has been laid down 
that one Christian partner must not dis- 
miss the other : but what if the other is 
eager to go? — a very possible case, where 
so much of the daily life would be sub- 
ject to a perpetual challenge, silent or 
spoken. In that case, if the unbelieving 
partner is for separation, let him sep- 
arate. Binding as is the law of marriage, 
there must be no slazery in the matter : 
in such circumstances the Christian 
brother or sister is not under bondage; 
besides, it is in the sphere, or atmo>phere 
{€v) of peace that God has called you 
(or tis). The meaning appears to be: 
friction wall be inevitable with a heathen 
partner, and this will disturb the peaceful 
atmosphere of your divine calling {K€k\7]K€v^ 
pf.) ; therefore if the heathen partner is 
desirous to go, let him go — his depart- 
ure will be a contribution to Christian 
peace. 

]\Iuch doubt hangs over the meaning of 
ver. 16: literally, for what do you know, 
woman, as to whether you shall save 
your husband? or what do you know, 
man, as to whether you shall save your 
wife? This seems to connect naturally 
with the last verse : as God has called you 
in peace, and that peace will be not only 
imperilled but disturbed by a heathen part- 
ner, why not consent to his departure? 
why hold him on the very problematic hope 
of ultimately saving him ? The chief ob- 
jections to this view are two: (i) the Co- 
rinthians needed restraints from, rather 
than inducements to, facile divorce ; and 
(ii) it would be more like Paul to indulge 
in the hope of the heathen's ultimate con- 
version. In accordance with these objec- 
tions, the verse might conceivably be trans- 
lated " How do you know whether you will 
not save him?" — in imitation of the He- 
brew construction of Who kinKi'S = fycr- 
haf^s. Still, the other view seems more 
in line with the immediate context: life 
with a person who hated Christianity, 
would be slavery, and that must not be 
(ver. 15) : the brother or sister is not 
bound in such a case — let the heathen part- 
ner go. 



Ch. VII] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



47 



17 But as God hath distributed to every 
man, as the Lord hath called every one, 
so let him walk. And so ordain I in all 
churches. 

18 Is any man called being circumcised? 
let him not become uncircumcised. Is any 



called in uncircumcision? let him not be 
circumcised. 

19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncir- 
cumcision is nothing, but the keeping of 
the commandments of God. 

20 Let every man abide in the same 
calling wherein he was called. 



17. It is easy to see, however, how this 
concession of Paul's might be abused ; so, 
to counteract the facility of separation 
which his words might have been inter- 
preted as encouraging, he adds the cor- 
rection that, on the whole, one is to con- 
tinue in the state in which one was called : 
only in each case as the Lard (that is, 
Christ) apportioned to him in the past 
(aor.), in each case as God has called 
him (pf. : the effects of the call are abid- 
ing) so let him walk. There must indeed 
be no bondage to an inflexible conception 
of marriage ; still, in the main, the status 
quo at the call should be earnestly main- 
tained. Paul's instructions on this matter 
to the Corinthians differ in no respect 
from his instructions to the other churches : 
and so do I ordain in all the churches. 
With the assurance that they are not be- 
ing treated exceptionally, the Corinthians 
will do well to submit to this expression of 
Paul's apostolic authority. 

This passage again illustrates Paul's 
practical power of dealing with concrete 
situations. He has an exceedingly high 
conception of the marriage obligation : a 
Christian is not entitled to separate from 
a heathen partner who is willing to main- 
tain the union. On the other hand, if the 
partner refuses to maintain it, there must 
be no coercion : let him go. Christians are 
not slaves. 



The Heavenly Calling and the Earthly 
Station (vii. 18-24). 

The last sentence of the last paragraph, 
leads by an easy transition to the next; 
and the principle it enunciated of con- 
tinuing, in the main, in the state in which 
one was on receiving the divine call, is 
applied to other spheres — circumcision, 
uncircumcision, and slavery. 

18-20. Was one in a condition of cir- 
cumcision at his call? (lit. was one called 
as a circumcised man?) In other words, 
was he a Jew^? Let him not, by an oper- 
ation, have the marks of his circumcision 
destroyed. This had actually been done 
by certain Jews in Maccabasan times, as 



a symbol of their " apostasy from the holy 
covenant" (i ^lacc. i. 15). Circumcision, 
says Paul, is nothing: one born a Jew may 
be a good Christian, though he remains as 
he was at his call. The Gentile needs a 
similar reminder. Has any one been 
called in uncircumcision? There was 
even less reason for him to change his 
state than for the other. The Jew would 
at least have been obliterating, as it were, a 
sectarian sign : the Gentile would have been 
reverting to such a sign : consequently let 
him not be circumcised. These things 
are all outward, and do not affect a man's 
essential state. Circumcision is nothing 
and uncircumcision is nothing — a more 
deliberate and effective statement than 
" neither circumcision nor uncircumcision 
is anything " : but the keeping of the com- 
mandments of God — that is something, 
indeed everything. Here it might be sup- 
posed that Paul is falling into the very 
externalism which he is combating ; and 
was not circumcision also a command- 
ment? (Gen. xvii. 13). Clearly Paul is 
thinking of other than ceremonial com- 
mandments : his real meaning is illus- 
trated by other two passages in which he 
similarly depreciates circumcision and un- 
circumcision, contrasting them, on the one 
hand, with the new creation (Gal. vi. 15) 
and, on the other, Vv^ith faith zvorking 
through love (Gal. v. 6). It is God's 
commandments we are to observe, not an 
external service imposed on us by human 
lords (dovXoi dvdpih-TTwv^ 23b). Therefore, 
as these external things are of no conse- 
quence, in every case, in whatever call- 
ing a man was called, in that let him 
remain. It is probably '* the calling by 
which," rather than '' in which " he was 
called ; for the verb iK\r]6r] makes it prac- 
tically certain that the noun kXtjctls refers 
to the divine call rather than the secular 
calling. But the latter phrase adequately 
enough expresses the real meaning, though 
not the strict and primary sense. Whether 
the call came to a man in circumcision or 
uncircumcision, freedom or slaver}-, in that 
he was to abide : this amounts practically 
to saying that his earthly station was not 
to be abandoned under the influence of 
the divine call. 



48 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VII 



21 Art thou called being a servant? 
care not for it : but if thou mayest be made 
free, use it rather. 

22 For he that is called in the Lord, 
bcincr a servant, is the Lord's freeman : 



likewise also he that is called, being free, 
is Christ's servant. 

23 Ye are bought with a price; be not 
ye the servants of men. 

24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he 
is called, therein abide with God. 



21. There were undoubtedly slaves in 
the Corinthian church, and they would 
have felt the following apostrophe as a 
personal appeal. Were you a slave when 
you were called? Never mind. Slaves, 
who were suddenly confronted with the 
new importance assigned to them by Chris- 
tianity, would be peculiarly tempted to de- 
plore their lot, and Paul's steadying word 
would be necessary: do not let it (your 
slavery) be a care to you, never mind! 
Unfortunately, the next clause is anything 
but clear; and two opposite interpretations 
are possible: But if thou ART able to 
become free, use it rather. Use what? 
— his opportunity for freedom or con- 
tinuance in slavery? The answer to this 
question depends partly on how /<^ctt is 
taken: is it (a) "but though thou art able 
to become free, that is, even if you have 
a chance of liberty, continue rather in 
slavery " — on the principle that each man 
is to continue in the state in which he 
was called; or (b) "but if thou canst 
become free, if thou hast a chance of free- 
dom, rather use this chance than continue 
in slavery." On the whole (b) seems 
more natural in the context — notice the 
strong ciXXd after " never mind " — and does 
most justice to the aorist XPV<^cii; which 
could be employed far more naturally of 
using an opportunity than of continuing 
in a state. It is true that the time is 
short, and in view of the speedily expected 
coming of the Lord, outward states mat- 
ter little — " never mind " ; but the free 
man, like the unmarried (cf. ver. 32), has 
a wider scope for service than the slave, 
and the principle underlying ver. 15, that 
the Christian married brother is not to be 
bound by an inllexiblc view of his condi- 
tion, has a certain application here. 

22-24. But whether the chance of free- 
dom has to be welcomed or rejected, the 
real difference between the free man and 
the slave is very little: for the slave, 
called in the Lord, is in reality the Lord's 
freed man — the Lord has bought him 
from his former master, sin (Rom. vi. 18) : 
in like manner the free man, by his 
call, is no longer free, but becomes 
Christ's slave. The slave is really free, 
the free man is really a slave. Ye were 
bought with a price — the very words 



Paul had already used in arguing against 
immorality (vi. 20) : here he means — you 
are Christ's, whether as His freed man or 
His slave, because He has purchased you: 
therefore, do not become slaves of men. 
The particular point of this warning, if it 
has any, is not clear ; it is apparently a 
general caution against enslaving one's self 
to party leaders, institutions (such as cir- 
cumcision) or to any kind of influence 
that interferes with the " keeping of the 
commandments of God" (ver. 19), and 
with that loyalty which is due to Christ 
who bought us at so great a price. To 
sum up : In each case, in whatever state 
a man was called, brethren — a kindly 
touch — in that let him remain — with 
God. As is so often the case with Paul, 
the last phrase sheds a flood of light upon 
the argument which it concludes. The art 
of life consists in remaining zvith God, 
close to the God who called us : to any 
one who knows the peace (ver. 15) and 
joy of that communion, the most radical 
distinctions in the outward life will be rel- 
atively insignificant, and he will be con- 
tent to remain in the state in which he 
was called. 



These words of Paul, like those about 
marriage, are easy to misinterpret, if we 
forget the original situation. They are 
rather a protest against the restless, rev- 
olutionary spirit, than a plea for a passive, 
unaspiring, contentment. The new ideas 
which Christianity lodged in the minds of 
men and which have subsequently changed 
the face of society, would tend, in many 
cases, to create a spirit of restlessness ; 
and this spirit, had it expressed itself, for 
example, in a rising of slaves, would have 
indefinitely retarded the progress of the 
new religion. No lesson was more import- 
ant for that time than that men could 
serve God just as they were: the only 
bondage to be thrown oflf was that of 
sin. The Jew, with his national mark upon 
his body, and the slave in his slaver)', 
could enjoy a walk with God which could 
not be interrupted or afi'ected by external 
signs or outward conditions. And is not 
that a lesson which is valid for every age 
and every man (eKaoros, vv. 20, 24), — the 



Ch. yii] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



49 



25 Now concerning virgins I have no 
commandment of the Lord: yet I give 
my judgment, as one that hath obtained 
mercy of the Lord to be faithful. 

26 I suppose therefore that this is good 
for the present distress, / say that it is 
good for a man so to be. 

27 Art thou bound unto a wife? seek 
not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from 
a wife? seek not a wife. 

28 But and if thou marry, thou hast not 
sinned ; and if a virgin marry, she hath 



not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have 
trouble in the flesh : but I spare you. 

29 But this I say, brethren, the time 
is short : it remaineth, that both they that 
have wives be as though they had none ; 

30 And they that weep, as though they 
wept not; and they that rejoice, as though 
they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as 
though they possessed not? 

31 And they that use this world, as 
not abusing it: for the fashion of this 
world passeth away. 



essentially spiritual nature of religion? 
The spirit of Christianity must indeed try 
to express itself and get itself embodied; 
some institutions it will create; others, like 
slavery, which the New Testament does 
not attack, it will destroy. But these 
things are only the expression, not the es- 
sence of religion: the truly religious man 
does not depend, for his peace or happi- 
ness, upon the things that are without. 
He lives with God, and with God he is 
content. 



Advantages of Celibacy (vii. 25-40). 

25. Now with regard to maidens. As 

the cases of the married (vv. .loff.) and 
of unmarried (men) have already been 
disposed of (vv. 8 f.), Paul now considers 
the case on which no doubt his advice 
had been asked (cf. Trept Se, with regard 
to, vii. I, viii. i) of girls who were still 
at home, under the care of father or 
guardian. Concerning these, command- 
ment of the Lord I have none (cf. 
ver. 12) — on this point Jesus had made 
no pronouncement any more than in the 
case of mixed marriages, but I give my 
opinion, as one who by the mercy of 
the Lord is worthy of trust. This ren- 
dering of TTicrros is more appropriate than 
" faithful." He was, of course, a faithful 
steward (iv. 2), but his fidelity would not 
so fittingly guarantee the " opinion " as 
his being zvorthy of trust. 

26. In the opinion which follows, he 
passes from the immediate question of the 
marriage of virgins to the larger ques- 
tion of marriage in general (dpdpcbiru}) . I 
consider, then, that this (that is, what 
follows at the end of the verse, to ovtojs 
ehai) is good, if not absolutely, at any 
rate by reason of the present straits. 
Had another infinitive followed the vwapxei-v, 
the construction would have been, not 
perhaps obscure, but certainly somewhat 
awkward: this is avoided by a change of 



construction to on, with the (unexpressed) 
indicative : I consider that it is good (cf. 
ver. i) for a person {dvOpuivw^ hardly 
"for a man") to be thus — a somewhat 
enigmatic phrase, but the following verse 
shows that it must mean more than " even 
as I am" (cf. vv. 7, 8). It must embrace 
both states, and so must be taken to mean : 
to he just as he is (cf. vv. 20, 24). But 
the whole context shows that Paul is 
really thinking more of the second alter- 
native (27b) — of the advantage of being 
"unencumbered" by a wife — than of the 
first (27a). The distress is that which 
is already upon them — therefore not the 
hardships of life generally nor any specific 
persecution, but the distress that was to 
precede the coming of the Lord (Matt, 
xxiv. 8 ff., 21, Luke xxi. 23) which was 
believed to be in the very near future : 
Paul himself had already drunk deep of 
this "distress" (cf. iv. 11, 12). 

27, 28. It is good to remain as you are. 
Are you bound — possibly by betrothal, 
but much more probably, in marriage — 
to a woman? Do not seek to be freed. 
Are you free, whether as a widower or a 
bachelor, from a woman? Do not seek 
a woman (or wife) : the present imper. 
implies " do not' be on the search for." 
Still, if you DO (ko.1 emphatic) marry, you 
have not, in marrying, sinned (the aorist 
points to the act of marrying) ; and if a 
virgin marry, she has not sinned. But 
marriage, though it is not a sin, will in- 
volve suffering: tribulation (emphatic) 
shall such as marry have in the flesh, 
that is, " in bodily circumstances and re- 
lations." This, more or less true of mar- 
riage at any time, would be peculiarly true 
of the " distress " that would precede the 
coming of the Lord; and Paul is anxious 
that his converts should escape such 
trouble as could be evaded : I, with such 
authority as I possess over you (^7'^), am 
seeking to spare you by pointing out the 
advantages of the single state. 

29-31. But not only the inevitable sor- 



50 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VII 



32 But I would have you without care- 
fulness. He that is unmarried careth for 
the things that belong to the Lord, how 
he may please the Lord : 

S3 But he that is married careth for 
the things that are of the world, how 
•he may please his wife. 



34 There is difference also between a 
wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman 
careth for the things of the Lord, that 
she may be holy both in body and in 
spirit; but she that is married careth for 
the things of the world, how she may 
please her husband. 



rows of the time, but its brevity, furnished 
an additional argument against involving- 
one's life in the obligations of marriage. 
And this — what follows — I solemnly say, 
brethren: the very same words occur in 
a similarly solemn assertion in xv. 50 : the 
time (not life in general, but the period 
till the coming of Christ) is short (lit. 
contracted) : and this solemn fact, properly 
considered, ought to encourage in men, 
whatever be their condition, a sense of 
spiritual detachment. It ought to have the 
effect that henceforth they also who have 
wives should be as though they had 
none, and those who weep as though 
they wept not, and those who rejoice 
as though they rejoiced not, and those 
who buy as though they had no firm 
hold of their possessions, and those who 
use the world as not using it greedily. 
This means that, the * Christian was to 
preserve a sense of perspective, to distin- 
guish between the transient and the eter- 
nal, and while affected, as he could not 
but be, by the sorrows and joys that come 
to him, and by his social and business ex- 
periences, not to allow his soul to be en- 
grossed by these things. The tears and the 
laughter, the life of the family and the 
transactions of commerce, will continue ; 
but as they belong to a world, the fashion 
of which is swiftly passing away, the heart 
will -not let itself be entangled by them — 
it will keep itself as detached and serene 
as though these things were not. It was 
in view of the speedy coming of Christ 
that Paul urged this mood of spiritual de- 
tachment upon the Corinthians ; but though 
his expectation of that coming was not 
realized as he had expected, his words are 
as valid to-day as when they were written. 
We recognize indeed that we must give 
ourselves whole-heartedly to the duties in- 
volved in domestic, social, political and 
professional life, yet for each man, the 
time is always " short," and in view of the 
end, which for every man is very near, 
it is needful to cultivate this serenity of 
soul which the apostle is here inculcating. 
"Using the world" as he must, so long 
as he is in it, he must not "abuse" it — 
or rather (for /faraxpw/^e^oi can bear both 
meanings)— he must not "use it to the 



full " or eagerly : for the fashion of this 
world is passing away. Christ is com- 
ing; the world is passing, and the true 
man will sit loose to it (to \onrbp of ver. 
29 ought certainly not to be rendered with 
A. V. " it remaineth " : again, to take it 
with the four preceding words, is con- 
siderably to impair their solemnity — "the 
time is short henceforth " ; it is best taken 
with the next clause, thrown forward for 
emphasis). 

32, 33. Another argument in favor of 
the single state was its relative freedom 
from care. Any kind of entanglement — 
and marriage is, in certain aspects, an en- 
tanglement — injured a man's power to 
serve the Lord. Consequently I want you 
to be free from anxiety. The unmar- 
ried man is anxious about the things of 
the Lord, and asks himself how he is to 
please the Lord: but the man who has 
married is anxious about the things of 
the transitory world, whose fashion is 
passing away (ver. 31), asks himself how 
he is to please his wife, and in this way 
is divided between the claims of the Lord 
and the claims of his married life. A 
passage like this, where the wife almost 
appears as a rival of the Lord, though not 
in the terrible sense of vi. 16, 17, goes a 
long way to suggest that Paul had never 
been married (cf. ix. 5). He expresses 
himself paradoxically : he wishes the mem- 
bers of the church to be " free from anx- 
iety " (d/iiepi/xvovs) , yet the " anxious " life 
of the unmarried is his ideal after all : 
for their anxiety (^iepifi.vd) is for the things 
of the Lord, while the anxiety he con- 
demns is that also condemned by Jesus 
(Mat. vi. 25-34) for the things of the 
world. It would hardly be in accordance, 
however, with modern Christian feeling to 
concede the superiority — in point of spir- 
itual possibility and opportunity — of the 
maiden to the wife. True, the married 
woman is more " distracted " ; but it ^ is 
partly through these very distractions, in- 
evitable to family life, that she realizes her 
service of the Lord, and makes her con- 
tribution to the kingdom of God. 

34. The text of the opening words of 
this verse and the manner of construing 
them are very uncertain, though the words 



Ch. VII] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



51 



35 And this I speak for your own 
profit ; not that I may cast a snare upon 
you, but for that which is comely, and 
that ye may attend upon the Lord without 
distraction. 

36 But if any man think that he be- 
haveth himself uncomely tow^ard his vir- 
gin, if she pass the flower of her age, and 



needso require, let him do what he will, 
he sinneth not : let them marry. 

^y Nevertheless he that standeth stead- 
fast in his heart, having no necessity, but 
hath power over his own will, and hath 
so decreed in his heart that he will keep 
his virgin, doeth well. 



themselves are simple enough. The first 
question is: does (^Kal) f^efMepiarac (and 
is divided) go with ver. 33 or 34. We 
have taken it above with 33, but against 
this, it might be urged that ver. 33 w^ould 
be perfectly balanced (cf. ver. 16) if these 
words did not belong to it. A. V. has 
taken /j-e/mepiaraL with ver. 34, and followed | 
the reading : jxeixepiaTai i] ywrj /cat 17 wapOevos. j 
i] dya/xos ixepiixva ra rov Kupt'ou, translating, 
" there is difference aho between a wife 
and a virgin. The unmarried ' woman 
careth for the things of the Lord." One 
objection to that is that it assigns a rather 
unsatisfactory meaning to the verb. 
fxepi^eadai is the word used in Mat. xii. 25 
(Mark iii. 24) of a kingdom being divided 
(against itself), and in this sense, could 
be very appropriately used of the man who 
is the subject of ver. 33. On the whole it 
seems best to take Kal fie/xepicxTai with ver. 
33, and for ver. 34 to adopt the reading^ 
Kal 7] yvvT] 7] ayafios Kal i] irapdivos /xepLfiva 
TO. Tov Kvplov^ translating : Also, the un- 
married woman and the virgin are anx- 
ious about the things of the Lord. The 
singular verb is natural enough, as the 
two nouns embrace one idea, the '' unmar- 
ried woman " representing the general 
category, which is illustrated by the case 
of '' virgins " about whom^ Paul's opinion 
had evidently been asked. The anxiety of 
the unmarried woman is that she should 
be holy (alike) in body and in spirit. 
cwfiari is not intended to cast any reflec- 
tion on marriage, as that is also holy (ver. 
14) ; but the phrase " body and spirit " is 
apparently intended to signify the consecra- 
tion of the entire person. But she who 
is married cares for the things of the 
world, and asks herself how she may 
please her husband. 

35. These frank statements of the spir- 
itual disadvantages of marriage might have 
been supposed to rest upon some ascetic 
theor}'-, of Paul's : but this is not so, he says, 
It is for your own good that I say this, 
not that I may throw a noose over you, 
lasso you, as it were, and capture you 
to my precepts of celibacy, but with a 
view to seemliness and undistracted de- 
votion to the Lord. As often in Paul, 



the last word sums up Ae argument. He 
is desirous that the Corinthians should 
"sit beside" the Lord (like Mary at the 
feet of Jesus, Luke x. 39) that is, wait upon 
Him, direpiairaaTcJs^ without distraction ; they 
must not be like Martha, who zuas dis- 
tracted (TrepieairaTQ) about much serving. 
]\Iarriage involves distractions, which make 
complete devotion to the service of the 
Lord impossible : hence it is " for their 
own good " that Paul dissuades the Co- 
rinthians from it. 

36. In the next 3 verses (36-38) Paul 
deals more specifically with the case he 
set out to discuss — that of virgins (ver. 
25), marriageable girls living with their 
father or guardian. The situation here 
contemplated could also occur where an 
unmarried woman had, in consequence of 
embracing Christianity, been expelled from 
her home, and thus come under the care 
of some member of the Christian com- 
munity. Now if any one — father or 
guardian — considers that he is acting 
unseemly {daxvf^oj^elv^ cf. xiii. 5, appar- 
ently suggested by the seemliness, evaxvi^ov^ 
of the preceding verse — that decorum, 
which Paul is trying to further) towards 
his virgin — whether daughter or ward — 
if she be beyond adult age (that is, ac- 
cording to Greek ideas, probably over 
twenty) and if so it ought to be, that is, 
if there are good reasons for the marriage, 
let him do what he will; he commits no 
sin in sanctioning the marriage : let them 
marry, that is, the girl and her suitor. The 
" unseemliness " may be that of involving 
the girl in the disgrace of spinsterhood, or 
more probably in the temptation to im- 
morality. 

37. But while it is no sin for the father 
to consent to the marriage, Paul's own 
sympathies clearly lie on the other side, 
providing the way is open. But he that 
standeth in his heart, and that stead- 
fastly (edpalos at end, emphatic), being 
under nO' constraint, but having full 
power regarding his own personal wish, 
and hath determined in his own heart 

to keep his own virgin as a virgin 

such a man not only commits no sin (ver. 
36), but shall do well. In thorough keep- 



52 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VII 



38 So then he that giveth her in mar- 
riage doeth well ; but he that giveth her 
not in marriage doeth better. 

39 The wife is bound by the law as 
long as her husband liveth ; but if her 
husband be dead, she is at liberty to be 



married to whom she will ; only in the 
Lord. 

40 But she is happier if she so abide, 
after my judgment: and I think also that 
I have the Spirit of God. 



ing with ancient conceptions, the feelings 
of the girl are little, if at all, considered: 
it is the father (or guardian) who deter- 
mines whether she shall remain a _ virgin 
or not, and the double use of tSios is very 
striking — it is with his will, in his heart, 
that the final decision lies. The maiden 
is his own (tv^ iavrov irapdivov)^ and it is 
his right to dispose of her as, under the 
circumstances, seems best to him. It is 
just possible that the phrase "being under 
no constraint" leaves room for a consid- 
eration of the girl's feelings : but it is 
more probable that the constraint which 
might incline him to consent is an external 
one (cf. ver. 36). 

38. So then — the words that follow 
sum up not only this section dealing with 
the relations of father to daughter, but 
the whole discussion of the marriage ques- 
tion — both he that giveth his own virgin 
in marriage doeth well, and he that giveth 
her not shall do better. Marriage is 
no sin ; it is koXqv, good, honorable ; but 
the single life is Kpelaaov, better. This is 
perhaps the clearest and most deliberate 
expression of opinion in the chapter. 

Though the explanation just given of 
vv. 36-38 is reasonably satisfactory, es- 
pecially when we consider the great power 
vested by the ancient world in the father 
or guardian, it must be confessed that all 
the difficulties of the passages are not re- 
moved. The phrase " his virgin " is 
strange, though the word may have been 
chosen to cover the cases of daughter and 
ward ; and the precise meaning to be at- 
tached to the words " acting unseemly " 
and " under no constraint " are far from 
clear. These difficulties have suggested 
the idea that what Paul is here discussing 
is " spiritual marriage," an institution 
which can be traced back at any rate to 
the second century A. D. Christian young 
men who had taken vows of celibacy but 
were unwilling to dispense with the amen- 
ities of home life, and Christian young 
women, who stood alone and were in need 
of protection, would agree to live together 
in bonds of spiritual union. This would 
give a very intelligible meaning to the 
words " his virgin " in the passage. Tn 
view of the moral peril which would oc- 
casionally be involved in such a union, 



Paul would be here recommending that, 
in spite of their vows, the young man and 
his virgin ought to marry — it is no sin. 
If, on the other hand, tlie man is not un- 
der the constraint of any sensuous im- 
pulse, but has full control of his own 
will, he ought not to marry, but to keep 
his virgin as a virgin. What has usually 
been felt to be the insuperable objection 
to this interpretation is the grammatical 
difficulty of the word yo-ixL^w^ in ver. 38. 
As the conclusion of the argument, we 
should expect : " Consequently he who 
marries his virgin does well, and he who 
does not marry her will do better." In- 
stead of this, we get : " he who gives his 
virgin in marriage, does well, etc." Lietz- 
mann, however, after an interesting phil- 
ological argument, concludes that we 
must concede the possibility of Paul hav- 
ing used yafxi^o: (which may, by analogy, 
have come to mean " to celebrate mar- 
riage") as the equivalent of yafiiu (to 
marry). On this explanation, many of the 
leading obscurities of the passage would 
be removed, and a very interesting side- 
light would be thrown upon the life of 
the young Christian church. We cannot 
prove that " spiritual " unions appeared so 
early; but considering the tendency to as- 
ceticism on the part of some of the men, 
and the dangers to which an unmarried 
and isolated Christian woman would be 
exposed in such a society, it must be held 
to be not impossible. 

39. The case of widows, who, if we 
read toIs xvpoi-^, in ver. 8, have not yet 
been expressly mentioned, now comes in 
for brief consideration. A woman is 
bound (z'o/^y. ''by law," A. V. has wrongly- 
crept in, under the influence of Rom. vii. 
2) as long as her husband lives; but if 
the husband fall asleep in death, she is 
free to marry whom she will, only with 
this limitation that she must act in the 
Lord. This does not exf^ressly assert that 
she must marry a Christian, though in 
the light of 2 Cor. vi. 14. that is what it 
practically amounts to: the words mean 
that her action is to be governed by Chris- 
tian motives, consistent with her Chris- 
tian profession. 

40. She may marry, but she " will do 
better" (cf. ver. 38) not to marry: she 



Ch. VII] 



I COEINTHIANS. 



53 



will be not only happier, in being free 
from the cares and entanglements of mar- 
riage (32-34) but she is more blessed 
in being free for the undistracted service 
of the Lord (ver. 35) if she so remain, 
that is, in her widowhood. Paul is not 
dogmatic ; he only says, '' she is more 
blessed in my opinion" (cf. ver. 25); 
nevertheless he lets us feel that his opin- 
ion is to be very seriously reckoned with, 
for it is an opinion which he himself be- 
lieves to be inspired: and (or for) I think 
that I also, as well as those of you who 
may think differently on this subject, have 
the spirit of God. The claim is modestly 
expressed (for 5o/cc5, cf. iv. 9), but there 
is probably no real hesitation in the mind 
of Paul. He is a " spiritual " man, and 
as such can test all things (ii. 15) ; he is 
conscious of possessing the mind of Christ 
(ii. 16). 



If Paul's discussion of marriage in this 
chapter somewhat disappoints modern ex- 
pectations, it must not be forgotten that 
it is governed by temporal and local con- 
siderations. The people addressed were 
Corinthians : and the time was believed to 
be shortly before the coming of the Lord. 
The phrase 5ta rT]v evearihcav avdyKfiv de- 
termines the whole temper of the discus- 
sion (ver. 26) ; the arguments urged are 
natural and reasonable on account of the 
present distress. Marriage is a good 
thing (ver. 38), even a commendable thing 
under the circumstances that prevailed at 



Corinth (vv. 2, 9) ; but it is not the best 
thing. The single state is better (vv. 38, 
8) ; and one at least of the arguments 
which the apostle urges in its favor, has 
a certain measure of abiding validity. 
With the coming of Christ in view, he 
argued that the time was short, the dis- 
tress was sore, and the distractions of 
married life were real and serious. The 
last argument has still its application. 
There are certain kinds of service which 
can only, or at any rate most completely, 
be performed by those who are not bound 
by the ties of wife and family. Paul 
could hardly, as a married man, have 
done the wonderful work for the world 
which he did. While these ties may en- 
large a man's sympathy, and sometimes, 
as in certain phases of foreign mission 
service, even his opportunity, they also, 
in many cases, circumscribe his sphere and 
diminish his possibilities of service. He 
is divided (/xe^epto-rai, ver. 33) in a sense 
in which an unmarried Christian man is 
not, and a service of the Lord which is 
assiduous and undistracted (dTrepiaTrdanos^ 
ver. 35) will be very much less possible 
to him. But while this consideration jus- 
tifies celibacy for those who have the gift 
of continence (iyKparevopTai^ ver. 9) and 
the passion for service, it must not be 
exalted — and Paul does not exalt it — 
into an ideal for all. In the nature of 
the case (cf. ver. 9b), those who "make 
themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of 
heaven's sake" .(Mat. xix. J2) will al- 
ways be few. 



54 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VIII 



THE CHRISTIAN'S RELATION TO IDOL SACRIFICES AND 

FEASTS (viii. i-xi. i). 

CHAPTER 8. 

I Now as touching things offered unto 
idols, we know that we all have knowl- 
edge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity 
edifieth. 



2 And if any man think that he know- 
eth any thing, he knowcth nothing yet as 
he ought to know. 

3 But if any man love God, the same 
is known of him. 



We have already seen something of the 
difficulty which the converts must have 
experienced in maintaining Christian prin- 
ciples and practices in a pagan environ- 
ment like that of Corinth, The business 
and inevitable intercourse of social life 
brought them into contact with men whose 
standards were immeasurably inferior to 
the Christian standard : to escape this 
contact, they would have had to " go out 
of the world" altogether (v. lo). One 
of the practical difficulties of the Chris- 
tians, discussed in this section, was created 
by the pervasive influence of idolatry. It 
affected, as we shall see, the nature of 
the club-life which must have abounded 
in such a city as Corinth; it affected even 
the meat which came upon the Corin- 
thian tables. When a sacrifice was of- 
fered in a temple, the meat was sometimes 
eaten in one of the rooms of the temple 
(viii. lo), at other times it would find 
its way into the public market (x. 25), and 
thence to the table of a private house (x. 
2^]) . What was to be the Christian's atti- 
tude to such meat? Was he to abstain 
from it, on the ground that by partaking 
cf it, he associated himself with idolatry "^ 
or was he to eat without compunction, on 
the ground that the idol, to whom the 
sacrifice had been offered, was a nonentity? 
That is the question discussed in this sec- 
tion (viii-x), especially in viii, and x. 23- 
xi. 



Shall the Motive of Action he Knowledge 
or Love? (viii.). 

I. Now with regard to things sacri- 
ficed to idols — another of the points on 
which Paul's advice had clearly been 
asked: with the Trept be of vcr. t, cf. vii. 
I, 25. We know that we all have knowl- 
edge. The words may also mean, " we 
know, because we all have knowledge " ; 
but it is almost impossible to disconnect 
the oidafiev on of ver. i from the similar 
words of ver. 4, where they must mean 



" we know that." The meaning may be 
that Paul, and those, in general, whom 
he addresses, have a clear insight into the 
fact that an idol is a nonentity, and that 
consequently the eating of meat sacrificed 
to an idol is morally indifferent. But it 
seems more probable that in this verse, as 
apparently elsewhere in this chapter, we 
have echoes of the Corinthian letter. Paul 
has so often said, with a touch of irony, 
"ye know: do ye not know?" — 6 times, 
for example, in ch. vi — that we are jus- 
tified in suspecting oUajxev ori^ etc., to be 
a claim of the Corinthians. We know — 
you say — that we all have knowledge. 
This is a "wise" church (i. 5), and is 
often twitted by Paul for its conceit of 
wisdom (iv. 10). The sequel shows that, 
as a matter of fact, they did not all possess 
this knowledge (ver. 7). 

But in any case, argues Paul, knowledge 
is not enough : that alone will not take the 
church very far on the way to edification. 
Knowledge puffs up, it is love — love 
of God (ver. 3) and of the brethren (ver. 
11) — that builds up (iii. 9). Inflation 

and edification that is the contrast. 

Mere knowledge makes no substantial con- 
tribution to the church : that can only be 
done by love. A delicate question, like 
that under discussion, can not be decided 
purely on its own merits : it is a question 
that affects the "brethren" (ver. 11), and 
only those who love them, can reach a 
Christian decision. " Knowledge," as Ben- 
gel remarks, " only says. * All things are 
lawful for me'; love adds, 'but all things 
do not edify'" (x. 23). 

2, 3. If any of you Corinthians who 
suppose that knowledge, unilluminated by 
love, will lead you to an edifying decision 
on such a question — if any man imagines 
that he has complete (pf.) knowledge 
of anything, he has not yet won the 
proper kind of knowledge: for the proper 
kind, the kind ho ought (8ei) to have, is 
that for edification, and that must be in- 
spired by love (cf. ch. xiii). But if any 
man LOVES God, this is the man — and 



Ch. VIII] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



55 



4 As concerning therefore the eating of 
those things that are offered in sacrifice 
unto idols, we know that an idol is noth- 
ing in the world, and that there is none 
other God but one. 

5 For though there be that are called 
gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as 
there be gods many, and lords many). 

6 But to us there is but one God, the 



Father, of whom are all things, and we 
in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by 
whom are all things, and we by him. 

7 Howbeit there is not in every man 
that knowledge : for some with conscience 
of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing 
offered unto an idol ; and their conscience 
being weak is defiled. 



not the other who . . . we should ex- 
pect the sentence to continue, " knows 
Him," or " knows as he ought to know " : — 
instead we have, is known by Him. The 
implication no doubt is that the knowl- 
edge of the man who loves, approximates 
at least to the true knowledge: but the 
apostle prefers, by the unexpected turn 
he gives the sentence, rather to call at- 
tention to the divine regard for the man, 
as the source of any true insight the 
man possesses. For a very similar turn of 
expression, cf. Gal. iv. 9 " now that ye 
have come to know God, or rather to be 
known by God." 

4, 5. The discussion of the sacrificial 
meats, interrupted at the start b}' the elab- 
oration of the contrast between knowledge 
and wisdom, is now resumed. With re- 
gard then to the eating of things sac- 
rificed to idols, we know — in what fol- 
lows vv. 4b-6, as in ver. i, it is possible, 
though not certain that we have an echo 
of, if not an extract from the Corinthian 
letter : and the confession of faith in these 
verses, may represent perhaps the very 
words taught them by the apostle. We 
know that there is no idol in the world, 
no divine reality in the universe to which 
the idol or image corresponds. '* Existence 
is denied to the idol not absolutely (see 
5, X. 19!), but relatively." (Findlay.) 
The alternative translation that an idol is 
nothing in the zvorld, besides failing to 
do justice to the phrase "in the v/orld," 
is practically negated by the second clause, 
which is apparentl}^ intended to balance 
it; and that there is no God — other, 
erepos, of A. V. has apparently crept in 
from the first commandment — but one. 
Verse 5 appears to rob ver. 4 of part of 
its effect by conceding the possibility, if 
not indeed the actual existence, in some 
sense (XeySinevoi) , of many gods: but at 
any rate not to the Corinthian Christians 
— to us there is but one (ver. 6). For 
even supposing there do exist (elalv in 
this clause and the next is, by its position, 
emphatic) gods so-called whether in 
heaven or on earth, just as there exist 
many gods and many lords — Athens 



1 (Acts xvii. 16-23), and no doubt, Corinth, 
I were full of their images. If these words 
belong to Paul rather than to the Corin- 
thians, they may be explained by x. 20 
where " the things which the Gentiles 
j sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and 
not to God." Greek and Jew alike be- 
lieved in a multitude of demi-gods, angels 
and demons. 

6. Yet, whatever may be the truth 
about the existence of many gods, to us 
diristians there is but one God, whom 
Jesus taught the world to call the Father, 
from whom as source and creator all 
things (lit. the system of all things) pro- 
ceed, and we — not all men, but we Chris- 
tians — unto Him as our goal and end : 
and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through 
whom as ^Mediator in creation, are all 
things, and we through Him, as Medi- 
ator in redemption. The one God and 
Lord of this verse are the counterpart of 
the many gods and lords of ver. 5. The 
high place here assigned to Christ in 
creation as well as in redemption prepares 
the way for the Christology of Col. i. 15 f. : 
He holds a similar place in John i. 3, 
Heb. i. 2. We are ets avrov^ unto God ; 
He is the true goal, as He is the source, 
of our life ; and we can reach this goal 
oiily 5i' avTov^ through Christ. It is a con- 
sideration of these two great facts — the 
fact of God and His absoluteness, the 
fact of Christ and His lordship — that 
makes idolatry ridiculous, and the eating 
of food sacrificed to idols a matter of 
indifference. Such was the Corinthian 
conclusion, and such, but for the weaker 
brother, would have been Paul's conclu- 
sion. 

7. But all had not this insight: not in 
all is this (17) knowledge. There are 
some who, through being accustomed, 
up till now, to the idol, and conse- 
quently unable to shake off the impres- 
sion that it has a certain real existence, 
eat the meat as a thing sacrificed to 
idols, with the result that their con- 
science, being weak, is stained, because 
they feel that their partaking of such meat 
has definitely associated them with the 



56 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VIII 



8 But meat commendcth us not to God: 
for neither, if we eat, are we the better ; 
neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. 

9 But take heed lest by any means 
this liberty of yours become a stumbling- 
block to them that are weak. 

10 For if any man see thee which hast 



knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, 
shall not the conscience of him which is 
weak be emboldened to eat those things 
which are offered to idols ; 

II And through thy knowledge shall 
the weak brother perish, for whom Christ 
died? 



idol. Their conscience may be weak, and 
unenlightened: still, it is their conscience, 
and as such, they are bound to respect 
it — it must remain pure, unstained. In- 
stead of (TvvT]6eia^ crvveidrjcrei (A. V. "with 
conscience of the idol ") is read by some 
good MSS. and preferred by some scholars 
as the more difficult reading; but, on the 
other hand, it may have crept in under 
the influence of the (rvpeid-qais later in the 
sentence. 

8. This verse may be regarded as an 
exclamation of the enlightened Corinthians. 
What has meat to do with conscience? 
At the judgment (hence the future 
TrapaaTTjaei) meat will not affect our 
standing with God. TrapiaTrjfit is a neu- 
tral word: hence commendeth (A. V.) 
which would require ffwiar-nfii, is too 
strong. The meaning is : meat will not 
bring us before God — it is not on such 
an issue that our judgment will take 
place. We are neither the worse for 
abstaining nor the better for eating. 
Some MSS. read or altered the text to ive 
we neither the better for abstaining^ nor 
the worse for eating. The verbs imply 
that their position with God was neither 
advantageous (TrepLaaevofiev) nor inferior 
{varepovixeda) , 

g. It may be, rejoins Paul, that theo- 
retically considered food will not affect 
our standing with God. But this is a prac- 
tical question, not a theoretical one ; and 
in the situation, an act, innocent in itself, 
may have disastrous moral and religious 
consequences. Nevertheless be careful 
lest haply this liberty of yours, en- 
lightened as you are, may prove a stum- 
bling block to the weak. You have to 
consider your neighbor's conscience, as 
well as your own; and strength must be 
merciful to weakness. How far this lib- 
erty was carried and in what way it 
might prove a stumbling block, is illus- 
trated by ver. lo. 

10. For if one of these unenlightened 
Christians sees you, the person who is 
in possession of knowledge — P'i"l. ap- 
pears here to single out some individual 
or individuals and to address them di- 
rectly — reclining at tabic in an idol's 
temple, shall not his conscience, weak 



as he is, be edified, unto the eating of 
the things sacrificed to idols — " edified " 
to his destruction as the next verse shows, 
for he is perishing. The emboldened (ofi 
A. V. and R. V.) for olKodofi-ndTja-eTai misses 
a delicate point. Apparently the " liberals " 
in the Corinthian church expected that 
such conduct would "edify" the weaker 
brethren : they were indeed edified, replies 
Paul, and ruined in the process, because 
conscience had been dethroned. There can 
be no real edification without love (ver. 
i). The presence of a Christian reclining 
in a pagan temple is a real surprise, after 
making every allowance for the advanced 
views of the enlightened Corinthians. It 
is probably to be explained, as Professor 
W. M. Ramsay has suggested, that these 
Corinthians had still retained their mem- 
bership in pagan clubs and societies {Ex- 
positor 1900, vol. ii. 434). Though the 
object of these clubs would be non-religious 
— otherwise we cannot conceive a Chris- 
tian thus definitely associating himself 
with them — they had a certain religious 
character : the meetings would often be 
held in a temple, and the unity of the 
members sealed by a common meal, of 
which the flesh had first been offered in 
sacrifice to the god of the temple. 

II. Edified! and ruined! Your knowl- 
edge has destroyed him. For the weak 
man perishes through your knowledge, 
perhaps by means of (^f) it, or more 
literally, in the atmosphere of your knozcl- 
edge — i.e., it is a ruinous influence for 
him. The man of broad principles must 
consider, in love, the conscience of his 
narrower brother, and while he may try 
to educate it, he will not tempt him to 
violate it. The weak conscience " may be 
a less enlightened, but is certainly a more 
authoritative guide," than the advice or 
example of another man can be. What 
aggravates the sin of this inconsiderate 
example is that the man who is tempted 
by it, is not only weak, but a Christian 
brother, one therefore to whom special 
consideration, and even affection, is due : 
and not only is he a brother, but the 
brother on whose account Christ died. 
The man is ruined, who nii.uht ha\o been 
saved, whom Christ died to save. For his 



Ch. VIII] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



57 



12 But when ye sin so against the 
brethren, and wound their weak con- 
science, ye sin against Christ. 

13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother 



to offend, I will eat no flesh while the 
world standeth, lest I make my brother 
to offend. 



salvation, Christ sacrificed Himself: the 
champion of enlightenment will sacrifice 
nothing. He is engaged in the futile ex- 
periment of seeking to edify his brother 
by knowledge without love. But knowl- 
edge alone spells not only conceit (ver. i) 
but destruction (ver. 11). This verse is 
read as a question by A. V. "and through 
thy knowledge shall the weak brother 
perish?" {nai diroXelTat [or aTroWvTaL] in- 
stead of dTToXXurat yap), 

12. And by sinning in this way 
against the brethren, that is (Kal explains 
what is meant by sinning)^ by cruelly 
smiting their conscience, in its weak 
state, you are sinning against Christ, for 
inasmuch as ye did it — whether a kind- 
ness or a cruelty — unto one of the least 
of these my brethren, ye did it unto me 
(Mat. XXV. 40, 45) ; and elsewhere, in more 
terrible words, " it were well," says Jesus, 
" that the man who causes a little one to 
stumble should be drowned in the depths 
of the sea" (Alat. xviii. 6). To smite 
(not wound, as A. V., R. V.) the weak 
is cruel and cowardly : such blows may 
destroy (diroWvTaL yap), 

13. Paul closes his argument by a splen- 
did personal pledge. He has knowledge, 
but he has also love : wherefore, if food 
causes my brother to stumble, I will 
assuredly (ov fxr]) eat no flesh forever- 
more, lest I may cause my brother to 
stumble. Twice in this short verse, and 
twice in the last two verses, the brother 
is mentioned : it is this personal element 
that turns an academic question into a 
vital and practical one. The Corinthians 
thought of the question : Paul thought of 
the brother. He is free (ix. l), but he 



lirnits his freedom for the brother's sake. 
«pea, plur., of the different kinds of " food," 
with special reference to the sacrificial 
flesh in question. 



The question of the legitimacy of eat- 
ing the flesh of animals that had been of- 
fered in sacrifice no longer exists for us ; 
but we have other questions — theatre, 
card-playing, the use of wine, etc. — which 
present similar problems to the Christian 
conscience, and upon which good men are 
divided. Paul's counsel, and even his 
words, though addressed to a very differ- 
ent situation, still apply. In effect he 
says that knowledge, insight, alone does 
not settle these questions: they can only 
be settled by insight, tempered with love. 
Mere knowledge puffs up; it is love that 
builds up. Such questions are never ab- 
stract : they are questions that affect 
brethren: and the man who would decide 
them wisely and helpfully must not only 
understand the problem, he must love the 
brethren. He will not forget that his 
brother has a conscience as well as him- 
self, and he must respect his brother's, 
as he respects his own. He will, in love, 
seek to train the weak conscience, but he 
will not smite it. He will edify it, but 
not to its ruin ; he must see that, with 
the broader outlook, it loses none of its 
authority. The man who, by his example, 
would enlighten another, must make ^ sure 
that that example will not beget indiffer- 
ence to moral obligation, or lower the 
quality of the inner life. That is but a 
poor enlightenment which ends by destroy- 
ing the brother for whom Christ died. 



58 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. IX 



THE APOSTLE ILLUSTRATES HIS ARGUMENT FOR SELF- 
DENIAL BY HIS OWN PRACTICE (ix). 



CHAPTER 9. 

1 Am I not an apostle? am I not free? 
have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? 
are not ye my work in the Lord? 

2 If I be not an apostle unto others, 



yet doubtless I am to you : for the seal 
of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. 

3 Mine ansvyer to them that do ex- 
amine me is this : 

4 Have we not power to eat and to 
drink ? 



Paul the Apostle (ix. 1-3). 

Paul shows in this chapter that the prin- 
ciple of self-denial for the brother's sake 
which he has just laid down (viii), he has 
himself practiced by refusing to claim from 
the Corinthian church the maintenance to 
which, as a preacher, he was entitled. And 
this leads him to turn aside for a moment 
from his main argument to the defense of 
his apostolic rights. 

1. If Paul refrains from the meat that 
had been offered to idols, it is for his 
brother's sake, and not because he is not 
at liberty to partake of it: for am I not 
free? And to say nothing of my freedom 
as a Christian man, whom Christ has re- 
deemed from bondage (vii. 21-23) to all 
externally imposed law, am I not an apos- 
tle, and, as such, in possession of special 
rights. (A. V. wrongly reverses the order 
of these questions.) Nor can you doubt 
my claim to apostleship, for I possess the 
qualification that is acknowledged to be 
essential — have I not seen Jesus our 
Lord? Paul claims to have had mystic 
"visions and revelations of the Lord" (2 
Cor. xii. i), and at important crises to 
have been addressed by Him in a vision 
or trance (Acts xviii. 9, xxii. 17) : he 
refers here, however, not to these expe- 
riences, but to that vision of the Lord on 
his way to Damascus which started him 
on his Christian career (Acts ix. 17, xxii. 
8-10). The apostles must be witnesses to 
the resurrection, and this was the expe- 
rience that pre-eminently constituted Paul 
a witness. In the nature of the case, how- 
ever, this proof of his apostleship, being 
subjective, was not beyond the possibility 
of challenge : consequently Paul directs the 
Corinthians to a proof which is beyond 
challenge — his own success in establishing 
the church at Corinth: are not ye your- 
selves (v/J-eis) my work in the Lord? 
The work was done in the Lord (cf. iv. 

2, 3. Paul's apostleship had evidently 



been challenged, possibly by the party of 
Peter or of Christ (i. 12), and he shows 
the fatuity of the challenge. His detrac- 
tors had not opened their eyes to the 
facts. If to others — in the eyes of oth- 
ers — I am no apostle, yet at any rate 
to you I am one, for you are yourselves 
(vfieis) the seal and guarantee of my 
apostleship in the Lord. This is my 
defense to those who examine me: the 
word cLvaKpivovcnv suggests a semi-official 
examination (used in Luke xxiii. 14 of 
Pilate's examination of Christ) and shows 
how seriously Paul's claims were being 
contested. The this points rather back than 
forward: the Corinthian church (ver. 2) 
is itself the proof of Paul's apostleship. 
What follows is not a defense, but a series 
of claims. 

In the following verses (4-1 5a) Paul 
asserts his rights, as an apostle, elaborately 
and emphatically, which makes all the 
more impressive his deliberate refusal, for 
the gospel's sake, to avail himself of those 
rights (i5b-i9). 



The Ministers Rights (ix. 4-153). 

4. We have a right, have we not, to 
eat and drink at the cost of the church 
(cf. Mark vi. 10). This chapter is con- 
nected, by its emphasis on Hovaia, with the 
last (cf. viii. 9), but the addition of drink 
shows that the question of sacrificial meat 
is no longer under discussion. The con- 
text (cf. ver. 7) makes it certain that he 
is referring to the maintenance of the 
ministry by the church. By ice he prob- 
ably means, not specially himself and 
Barnabas (ver. 6), but himself and, in 
general, the others who assist him. He is 
doubtless, however, thinking more partic- 
ularly of himself; from ver. 15 to end of 
chapter, the ist pers. sing, is used. The 
claim of the right to eat and drink is a 
modest one, like the petition, *' Give u? our 
bread for the day." 



Ch. IX] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



59 



5 Have we not power to lead about a 
sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, 
and as the brethren of the Lord, and 
Cephas ? 

6 Or I only and Barnabas, have not we 
power to forbear working? 

7 Who goeth a warfare any time at 
his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, 
and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or 
who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the 
milk of the flock? 



8 Say I these things as a man? or 
saith not the law the same also? 

9 For it is written in the law of Moses, 
Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the 
ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God 
take care for oxen? 

10 Or saith he it altogether for our 
sakes? for our sakes, no doubt, this is 
written : that he that plougheth should 
plough in hope ; and that he that thresheth 
in hope should be partaker of his hope. 



5. We have a right, have we not, 

not only to marry, but to take about with 
us on our missionary tours, at the expense 
of the church, a Christian wife (lit: a 
sister, that is, a Christian sister, as a wife), 
as well as the rest of the apostles, most 
of whom, accordmg to this notice, must 
have been married, and accompanied on 
their tours by their wives; and the 
brothers of the Lord (]^Iark vi. 3) who 
are certainly to be distinguished from the 
twelve (cf. Acts. i. 14), in spite of the 
fact that Peter, who is last mentioned be- 
longed to that body. Of these brothers 
the most conspicuous was James (Gal. i. 
19, ii. 9), leader of the Jerusalem church: 
and Peter (Cephas) separately mentioned 
because his name was specially familiar and 
his example no doubt frequently tiuoted in 
Corinth (i. 12). 

6. Or is it only Barnabas and myself 
that have not the right of exemption 
from manual toil? epydleadaL suggests 
manual labor : it is used of vineyard work 
(Mat. xxi. 28) and of tent making, which 
was Paul's work (Acts xviii. 3). Paul 
and Barnabas, now separated, are often 
mentioned in association (Acts xi. 30, xiii. 
2, 3, Gal. ii. 9). 

7. The claims, then, which might have 
been legitimately urged by Paul were 
three : for his own maintenance, for the 
maintenance and traveling expenses of his 
wife, and for exemption from manual 
labor. He proceeds to justify these claims 
by several considerations, firsth', by an- 
alogy. Who ever serves as a soldier at 
his own expense? 6\p(l}via.^ primarily a 
soldier's rations, then his pay. The Chris- 
tian minister is a soldier : why should 
he not, like any other soldier, be supported 
by those in whose behalf he enters the 
service? Who plants a vineyard and 
does not eat the fruit thereof? Xobodj'. 
Has then the apostle, who plants a church, 
not the right to fare as well? Or who 
shepherds a flock, and does not eat of 
the milk of the flock? The apostle, has 
also a flock to feed : has he not, like the 



shepherd, the right to live by it? The eye 
may suggest a share, or perhaps the source 
of his recompense, which may have taken 
other forms (cf. ecrdiei) besides milk: but 
in effect the meaning dift'ers little from 
the direct accusative napirov. The point of 
the verse is that workmen have a right to 
be rewarded for, or to share in the pro- 
ceeds of, their toil : Christian ministers 
form no exception. 

8, ga. But for this view of their services, 
there is higher warrant than human an- 
alogy- : there is scripture. Do I say these 
things merely as a man — with merely 
human- authority? or does the law not 
say this as well? An argument could al- 
ways be clenched by a quotation from the 
Old Testament. The lazu, which can be 
applied to the whole of the Old Testament 
(to psalms, e.g. in John x. 34, xv. 25, to 
prophecy in i Cor. xiv. 21), is here specif- 
ically the law of Moses, that is Pentateuch. 
For in the law of Moses it stands writ- 
ten, "Thou shalt not muzzle an ox that 
is threshing" (Deut. xxv. 4). The thresh- 
ing was performed chiefly in two ways, 
either by the feet of the cattle treading out 
the corn, or by a sledge driven over the 
threshing floor, " The most common mode 
of threshing is with the ordinary slab called 
mozvrej, which is drawn over the floor by 
a horse or yoke of oxen, until not only 
the grain is shelled out, but the straw it- 
self is ground into chaff . . . The com- 
mand of Moses not to muzzle the ox that 
treadeth out the com is literally obej'ed to 
this day b}^ most farmers, and you often 
see the oxen that draw the mowrej eating 
from the floor as they revolve. There are 
niggardly peasants, however, who do miiz- 
zJe the ox" (Thomson, The Land and the 
Book, p. 540). 

gb, 10. Now what is the meaning of 
such a law? Is it for the oxen that God 
careth? or does He (God: or perhaps it, 
the law, scripture) not clearly {-rravTcos, by 
all means) say it on OUR account? that 
is. not on man's account, but on account of 
Christian ministers, such as Paul. To the 



60 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. IX 



11 If we have sown unto you spiritual 
things, is it a great thing if we shall reap 
your carnal things? 

12 If others be partakers of this power 
over you, are not we rather? Neverthe- 
less we have not used this power ; but suf- 



fer all things, lest we should hinder the 
gospel of Christ. 

13 Do ye not know that they which 
minister about holy things live of the 
things of the temple ? and they which wait 
at the altar are partakers with the altar? 



question, " Is it for the oxen that God 
cares," Paul clearly expects the answer No. 
It is just as plain that the only answer 
that accords with the spirit of the Old Tes- 
tament, is an affirmative. God does most 
assuredly care for the oxen, and not only 
on our account, but on their own. Old 
Testament legislation was nobly merciful 
to the beasts. A righteous man cared for 
the life of his beast (Prov. xii. 10). God 
caused the grass to grow for the cattle 
(Ps. civ. 14), He gives to the beast his 
food, and to the young ravens which cry 
(Ps. cxlvii. 9), and he spares Nineveh, 
with its "much cattle" (Jonah iv. 11). 
Jesus shared this view of the dumb crea- 
tion — the birds and the sheep. Paul's 
question here is touched by the Rabbinism 
in which he had been trained ; but though 
his interpretation of the passage is hardly 
just to the spirit of the Old Testament, 
his application of it is singularly happy. 
As the ox must not be muzzled, but must 
be free to feed as he does his hard work 
upon the threshing-floor, so must the Chris- 
tian minister be free to " eat and drink " 
at the cost of the church for which he 
works. Yes, it was for our sake it was 
written, to wit, that the plower ought 
to plough in hope and the thresher to 
thresh, in hope of sharing. This is by 
some regarded as a citation from sorne 
lost apocryphal book, but the clause is 
rather explanatory of the preceding quota- 
tion ("to wit that"), than causal ("be- 
cause," as R. V. takes it). In that case 
the plower and the thresher are primarily 
to be understood of the ox, and secondarily 
of the Christian teacher. The true reading 
appears to be /cat 6 dXowv (with dXodp, gov- 
erned by ocpeiXei, understood) ctt' e\7rt5i tov 
fierexeiv, A. V. rests on a confused reading 
Kal dXouJv TTJs eXiridos (xerex^i-v ctt' eXiridi 
(and he that thresheth in hope should be 
partaker of his hope) — a reading appar- 
ently due to the mistake of supposing that 
fi€T€X€tv was directly governed by ^0et\ei 
(ought to share), a mistake which in- 
volved further alteration and expansion. 
The principle of the verse is that the 
worker should be relieved from all anxiety, 
fiepi/jiva: he must be able to cherish the 
**hope of sharing." 

II, 12. After appealing to scripture, 



Paul now appeals to the common sense of 
the Corinthians; and by an effective jux- 
taposition of zee and you (viJ-eis vfilv ; rjfieis^ 
v/Lwv)^ he produces a contrast which it is 
impossible to reproduce in English. If WE 
sowed spiritual things for YOU, is it a 
great thing if WE shall reap YOUR car- 
nal things? Besides the contrast between 
zve and yon, there are the further contrasts 
between the sowing and the reaping, and 
between the spiritual and the carnal. The 
sower has a right to look for a harvest : 
surely no one would grudge him a harvest 
of so inferior a kind as that which he 
claims. It is no great thing if one who 
brought them the unspeakable gift of the 
gospel should have the paltry recompense 
of meat and drink, especially as others, 
with less claim, had enjoyed it; for if 
others share in the right over you, of 
which I speak, do not we yet more? for 
Paul was, in a unique sense, the father 
of the Corinthian church (iv. 15). He has 
argued with skill and force for the right 
to these privileges and exemptions; but, 
he goes on, we made no use of this 
right: instead, we put up with all sorts 
of things, such things as he enumerates 
in iv. II ff. — hunger, thirst, persecution, 
the contempt of the world. And his rea- 
son for refusing to avail himself of what 
he could have rightly claimed is that we 
may offer no kind of (^'J'') hindrance to 
the gospel of Christ. His self-denial in 
ch. viii. was for the brethren's sake, here 
it is for the gospel's sake. Had he insisted 
upon his rights as a Christian minister, 
the ' good news ' might have been misun- 
derstood : the gospel must be allowed to 
shine in its own light, and no conduct of 
his, however innocent, must be allowed to 
obscure it (cf. 2 Cor. xi. 7-1 1). 

13. The argument for the right of the 
Christian minister to maintenance he now 
strengthens still further by an appeal to 
the practice of the priests. Do you not 
know (cf. ver. 24), — you wise men ought 
to know — that those who are engaged 
in the sacred offices eat the things that 
come from the sacred place (that is. the 
temple), and that those who attend upon 
(7rape5pei''Oj'res, cf. vii. 35, ^6 evndpedpoi' t<v 
Kvpiu}) the altar have their portion with 
the altar? That is, the fire claims part, and 



Ch. IX] 



I COKINTHIANS. 



61 



14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that 
they which preach the gospel should live 
of the gospel. 

15 But I have used none of these 
things : neither have I written these things, 
that it should be so done unto m.e : for it 
were better for me to die, than that any 
man should make my glorying void. 

16 For though I preach the gospel, I 
have nothing to glory of: for necessity is 



laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I 
preach not the gospel ! 

17 For if I do this thing willingly, I 
have a reward : but if against my will, 
a dispensation of the gospel is committed 
unto me. 

18 What is my reward then ? Verily 
that, when I preach the gospel, I may 
make the gospel of Christ without charge, 
that I abuse not my power in the gospel. 



the rest goes to the priests. Some suppose 
that the reference of the first clause is to 
heathen practice, others to the Levites : 
more probably, however, both clauses refer 
to the Jewish priests. 

14, 15a. The principle of this law of 
the old covenant — that he who is engaged 
in sacred offices should be maintained — 
is confirmed by Jesus. So also did the 
Lord — not God, but Jesus — ordain for 
those who proclaim the gospel, that they 
should live from the preaching of the 
gospel. The workman, said Jesus, de- 
serves his food (Mat. x. 10) or his wages 
(Luke X. 7). Jesus, who came to "fulfil" 
the law (Mat. v. 17) fulfilled it here also. 
But as for me (h^), says Paul, I have 
made no use of these things, of these 
rights which he has so elaborately defended 
by appeals to analogy, scripture, common 
sense, Jewish practice, and the ordinance 
of the Lord. This has been his settled 
practice (KexprifiaL, pf.) to make no use of 
them — a more comprehensive statement 
than exp'n(Ta.ixeda (aor.) ver. 12. It is inter- 
esting to note how a word of Jesus settles 
the matter. With this appeal the discussion 
is closed. 



Paul's Renouncement and Reward (ix. 
I5b-i8). 

15b. Paul has argued so warmly and 
convincingly for his rights as a Christian 
minister that the statement of his refusal 
to avail himself of those rights comes as a 
sudden surprise. He has argued the case 
for others — the minister is entitled to the 
support of the church which he serves. 
But the Corinthians need not be afraid 
that he is arguing for himself; the rights 
which he has defended he relinquishes in 
his own case. Now my object in writing 
this (eypaxpa, I write, epistolary aorist) is 
not that such steps (that is, for my sup- 
port) be taken in my case. No! I had 

rather die than : he cannot bear even 

to utter the thought that is in his mind — 
"than live at the expense of a church 



which contests my right to maintenance " 

so he goes on : (this) boast of mine 

no man shall make void — the boast, 
namely, that he proclaimed the gospel for 
nothing. The abrupt turn thus given to 
the sentence is very effective, though it must 
be_ admitted that this particular kind of 
ellipse is very unusual, if not unparalleled. 
It may partly be explained by the fact that 
Paul is dictating. The great variations in 
the MSS. show that the early transcribers 
were perplexed. Instead of ovdels, presup- 
posed by the above translation, tVa rts is 
read in some, the following verb being read 
either as Kevwarj (subj.) or Kevucret (fut. 
ind.). li Iva ris Kevwaei (ind.) had been 
the original reading, the irregularity of 
the construction, though not without par- 
allel, might easily have led to the subse- 
quent changes : ovbeh for 't-va tls, on the 
one hand, or Kevwarj (subj.) for Kevuaei on 
the other hand. The translation would 
then be: I had rather die than that any 
one should moke void my boast — the same 
meaning much less passionately expressed. 

16, 17. This boast (lit, "matter of 
glorying") which must on no account be 
made void, is that Paul preaches the gos- 
pel without cost to the church, not sim^ply 
that ^he preaches — he cannot help that. 
For in merely proclaiming the gospel, I 
have no cause to boast, for it is a case 
of must — necessity is laid upon me: yes, 
misery is mine (lit-woe [an interjection] 
is to me) if I do not preach. No reward, 
he means, is due to a man who works, as 
he worked for the gospel, under constraint. 
For if it is of my own free vdll that I 
am doing this (that is, preaching) — as it 
is not, for necessity is laid upon me — 
then I have my reward. If, on the other 
hand, it is not of my own free will — 
and this is the real state of affairs — I 

18. Paul then, neither expects nor de- 
have had a stewardship entrusted to me, 
and as such, am not entitled to reward. 
Fidelity is expected in a steward (iv. 2, 
where the words are similar), but he is 
not entitled to a reward for doing what it 
was his duty to do (Luke xvii. 10). 



62 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. IX 



19 For though I be free from all men, 
yet have I made myself servant unto all, 
that I might gain the more. 

20 And unto the Jews I became as a 



that I might gain them that are under the 
law ; 

21 To them that are without law, as 
without law, (being not without law to 



Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them God, but under the law to Christ,) that I 
that are under the law, as imder the law, | might gain them that are without law. 



sires a reward for preaching : indeed, he 
nobly argues that, under the terms of his 
commission — constrained (dvayKt}) as he 
was — it was impossible. Yet he has his 
reward. What then is my reward? It is 
one which could only appeal to a noble, 
unselfish, and wholly consecrated mind — 
the reward of dispensing with reward, of 
preaching the gospel for nothing ; it is 
that in preaching, I may make the gos- 
pel message free of charge (cf. Acts xx. 
SS), so that I might not use to the full 
(KaTaxpv(^o.(^0<^'; cf. vii. 31) the right that 
is mine in proclaiming the gospel. Al- 
ford explains, " What is the prospect of 
reward that could induce me to preach 
the gospel gratuitously?" regarding the 
whole verse (not simply the first clause) 
as the question : and the answer he finds 
in the "gaining" (Kepdrjac^j) ^ that is, the 
"salvation" (o-wo-w, ver. 22) of the greater 
number (ver. 19). It is certainly signifi- 
cant, in a context which discusses reward, 
that the word gain should be repeated no 
less than five times. This sort of gain is 
also thoroughly in keeping with the spirit 
of Paul: cf. I Thes. ii. 19, 20, where he 
speaks of the Thessalonians as, " our hope, 
joy, glory, crown of glorying" (Kavxvf^^^s) 
at the coming of our Lord Jesus. The 
chief objection to this view is that with 
ver. 19 the thought seems to take a slightly 
different turn : vv. 18, 19 are not so inti- 
mately connected as the above interpreta- 
tion presupposes. 



The Versatile Sclf-Abnegation of Zeal (ix. 
19-23). 

19. Paul had rights, Hovcia (ver. 18) 
as a preacher of the gospel,, but he did 
not make use of them (vv. 12, 15, 18) : 
he was free (vv. i, 19), but he made no 
use of his liberty, except to make himself 
the slave of everybody; and this he did 
that he might win them. For being free 
from all, I made myself the slave of all 
(the juxtaposition irdvTiov irdaw it is im- 
possible to reproduce in English) — a 
strange use of liberty, but it was that I 
might win the greater number for Christ 
and salvation (o-wo-w, ver. 22) — greater 
than would have been won without this 



accommodation of himself to everybody. 
He does not say all, his only hope is to 
win some (ver. 22). The "gain" which 
Paul expects from his ministry is not 
money, nor even maintenance, but souls. 

20. He proceeds to illustrate the various 
types of bondage to which he, the free 
man, submitted, for the gospel's sake. 
For example (Kai), I became to the Jews 
as a Jew — as a Jew, for he was no longer 
a Jew in the ordinary sense — that I 
might win Jews. Though he was well 
aware, for example, that " circumcision is 
nothing" (vii. 19), he had Timothy cir- 
cumcised " because of the Jens that were in 
those parts" (Acts xvi. 3, cf. Gal. v. 11) ; 
and he took upon him specifically Jewish 
vows (Acts xviii. 18, cf. xxi. 23 ff.). To 
those under the JMosaic law — not so 
much " the Jews," who are already men- 
tioned (unless it be a case of rhetorical 
repetition, or the better to point the con- 
trast with the next clause), but circum- 
cised proselytes — I became as under the 
law, though I am not myself under the 
law — as a Christian, Paul is no longer 
under the Jewish law (Gal. ii. 19) — 
that I might win those under the law. 

The clause (m^ <^v avrbs vno vouoi') was 
accidentally omitted from the common text, 
and so from A. V., owing to the similarity 
of ending to that of the previous clause. 

21. To those that are without the 
Mosaic law — the heathen, as opposed to 
the Jews, who have it — I became as one 
without law, not of course that I am 
really without the law of God, but within 
the law of Christ (cf. Gal. vi. 2), that I 
might gain them that are without law. 
In dealing with the heathen, he accommo- 
dated himself to their standpoint, as when 
he pointed the people of Lystra to the rain 
from heaven and fruitful seasons as a 
witness to God (Acts xiv. 17), and still 
more strikingly at Athens, where he took 
his text from an inscription on a Greek 
altar, and quoted in his sermon from a 
Greek poet (Acts xvii.). Paul is specially 
careful here to safeguard himself. He 
adopted for the moment, and to " gain " 
them, the standpoint of the &i'Ofioi, but he 
was not really S.i'onos: he acknowledged 
the great law of God which had found 
its perfect expression in Christ, so that he 



Ch. IX] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



6^ 



22 To the weak became I as weak, 
that I might gain the weak : I am made 
all things to all men, that I might by alj 
means save some. 



22, And this I do for the gospel's sake, 
that I might be partaker thereof with 
you. 



is in law in respect of Christ. Here again 
(cf. i. 3, iii. 23) the connection of Christ 
and God is striking. 

22. To the weak I became weak — not 
as weak (A. V.), but really weak (cf. 2 
Cor. xi. 29) as though he not merely un- 
derstood but shared their weakness — that 
I might gain the weak. The weak are 
the scrupulous (viii. 7) ; and though 
through knowledge, Paul rises above their 
scruple, in love he shares it (viii. i). 
These are but four illustrations of the 
policy that governed his whole ministry, 
to meet each man sympathetically on his 
own ground: I have become all things 
to all men (rots irdaLv^ all the men with 
whom he had to do). This elasticity, 
which might be interpreted as moral in- 
difference or even as time-serving, is really 
an anxious spiritual sympathy : its motive 
is that by all means I may save some. 
His efforts are abundant, but his hopes 
are modest — for the salvation of some: 
he knows the stern realities with which he 
has to contend. The word save defines the 
word gain: he gains them by saving them. 

23. Not only this particular policy of 
accommodation, but all Paul's acts, were 
dictated by his love for the gospel. And 
not only this but all things I do for the 
gospel's sake, that I may become a joint 
((Tvv) partaker in it and its blessings — 
especially its blessing of salvation (crujao}, 
ver. 22). In his effort to save others, he 
must not forget or neglect his own salva- 
tion. These words are characterized, as 
Bengel remarks, by great modesty : his aim 
is to become a sharer with others. 



This whole passage (ix. 1-23) is written 
with considerable warmth, and illustrates 
both the practical wisdom and the spiritual 
greatness of the apostle. In eager, rapid 
logic he argues for the maintenance of the 
ministry by the church, and his arguments 
are m large measure still valid. One who 
gives his whole time to the spiritual nurture 
of others ought himself to be . relieved of 
sordid anxieties. Work that deeply touches 
the mind or heart can never be adequately 
recompensed in money, and it is surely no 
great thing (ver. 11) if such workers have 
their needs generously supplied by those 
for whose highest welfare they do so much. 
Jesus Himself said that the workman de- 



serves his food (or wages) ; and the church 
has the duty of making a reasonable and 
not ungenerous provision for those who 
serve her. 

But Paul himself makes no use of those 
rights (vv. 12, 15) for which he has argued 
with such conviction. After fighting the 
battle for others, he refuses to share in the 
spoils of victory. And he refuses for the 
gospel's sake; he is fearful of offering to 
it any manner of hindrance through any 
act of his (ver. 12). To accept even the 
most meager remuneration for preaching 
might, under the circumstances, have ex- 
posed the " good news " to misrepresenta- 
tion ; and Paul will take no risk. He 
preaches because he cannot help it, and he 
deserves no reward for that : the only re- 
ward he desires is the salvation of those 
for whose sake he denies himself. 

Incidentally we get a glimpse of the 
secret of Paul's overwhelming power as a 
preacher : he preached under an irresisti- 
ble impulse, and with the consciousness 
that a divine constraint* was upon him. 
"Woe is me if I preach not" — that is the 
stuff of which the great preachers are 
made, the Luthers, the Wesleys, the White- 
fields (ver. 16). And a preacher of this 
kind, when his authority is challenged, can 
usually, though not perhaps invariably, 
point to results. " Are ye not my work in 
the Lord? " (ver. i). 

But nothing better illustrates Paul's 
greatness as a spiritual leader than his 
power of adapting himself to all sorts and 
conditions of men ; and it is here that many 
who aspire to be leaders fail. Though a 
Christian, Paul retained completely his 
power to look at the world with the eyes 
of the Jew ; though himself a man of 
broad and of the broadest mind, he could 
understand, and for practical purposes 
share, the scruples of the narrow-minded. 
Such he called not bigot, but brother. A 
single illustration may be taken from the 
situation in the church to-day. Defenders 
of the modern view of the BilDle sometimes 
speak of the supporters of " orthodoxy " 
in language that is harsh, discourteous, and 
provocative of ill-feeling ; but that is 
surely not the way to " win some." If 
a man is to be won, he must first be un- 
derstood ; his standpoint must be not only 
intelligently, but sympathetically consid- 
ered. The weak will only be saved by one 



64 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. IX 



24 Know ye not that they which run 
in a race run all, but one receiveth the 
prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 

25 And every man that striveth for the 
mastery is temperate in all things. Now 
they do it to obtain a corruptible crown ; 
but we an incorruptible. 



26 I therefore so run, not as uncer- 
tainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth 
the air : 

27 But I keep under my body, and 
bring it into subjection: lest that by any 
means, when I have preached to others, I 
myself should be a castaway. 



who is tender to weakness. In short, the 
man who would " save some " for Christ 
must learn to be their friend and servant 
(ver. 19), he must be a master in that 
divine art of versatility which enables him 
to " become all things to all men." 



Paul's Race for Life (ix. 24-27). 

The thought hinted at the close of ver. 
23, that Paul has to consider his own sal- 
vation as well as that of others, is worked 
cut in this section with great and graphic 
earnestness. 

24. Do you not know — as Corinthian 
Greeks, of course, they could not help 
knowing — 'that of those who run in the 
race-course — the stadium was about half 
a quarter of a mile in length — while all 
run, only one gets the prize, f^^v . . . de 
well contrasts the many competitors with 
the single winner. The Corinthians would 
be especially familiar with the Isthmian 
games. It is hard to win this race — all' 
are in earnest, all are temperate (ver. 25), 
but only one is victor — and it is equally 
hard, or infinitely harder to win the Chris- 
tian race ; it is not enough to enter for 
it. Therefore run in that fashion — like 
those earnest, temperate (ver. 25) runners, 
or rather, like the successful competitor — 
in order that ye may attain the prize 
(Not "run in such a way as to attain" 
which would rather be ^(^re KaraXa^eiu) , 

25. Now at the Greek games every 
combatant, and not the winner alone, ex- 
ercises in all things positive self-con- 
trol, which is more than mere negative 
abstinence : he must be his ozvn master. 
For ten months before the contest, the 
competitors were under the strictest obliga- 
tions to refrain from every indulgence 
which might have impaired their strength. 
Another contrast with /^eV . . . 5e' : they 
verily, the foot-runners, that they may 
get a corruptible crown of pine-lcavcs 
(such at this time was the reward in the 
Isthmian games), we Christians on the 
other hand, an incorruptible crown of 
eternal life (cf. i Tim. vi. 12). 

26. 27. The prize of the Christian race 
was infinitely more precious: therefore I 



for my part (e7a>) so run as not uncer- 
tainly (lit. not unclcarly) — his course was 
clear: he saw the goal and pressed steadily 
and strenuously on to it. He changes the 
metaphor from running to boxing, to bring 
out the idea of the vigor with which the 
foe must be assailed. So (emphacic, and 
■almost pictorial) I box, as one beating a 
real enemy, not air. The Christian strug- 
gle is not a sham-fight, but a fight with 
an enemy on whom sturdy blows must rain. 
Paul knew whereof he spoke : he had 
"fought with beasts at Ephesus " (xv. 32). 
But on the contrary I beat my body — 
his own body is the enemy — black and 
blue, and lead it away captive like a 
beaten antagonist, lest haply, after hav- 
ing heralded salvation to others, I should 
turn out to be rejected myself. The 
imagery of the games is kept up through- 
out the passage, vircjirid^cj^ to strike a 
heavy blow in the face, beneath the eyes 
(I'TTo, wi/'). It is the word used in Luke 
xviii. 5, of the widow's continuous assault 
Upon the unjust judge. (I'TroTridfw, a less 
graphic word, / press under, is also read 
in the text before us.) Krjpv^as, the regular 
word for preaching, appears here to have a 
flavor of its primary connotation, acting as 
herald — nrjpv^; the herald announced the 
conditions of the game and the names of 
the victors: ddoKL/xos, one who is rejected 
(from the prize). 



The strenuousness of Paul's religion is 
strikingly illustrated by this passage. The 
self-restraint which he practises is for the 
gospel's sake (ver. 12), for other's sake 
(ver. 22), and not less for his own sake. 
His work for others does not exempt 
him from work upon himself: he faces the 
possibility of his ultimately losing the 
prize (ver. 27). Therefore he must fight, 
for his soul, with grim earnestness : his 
body is the enemy (Rom. viii. 13), and it 
must be a fight to the finish (5oi'Xa7w7a;). 
The "bruising" of the body must not 
be taken, as some extremists have taken it, 
literally: it is a figure, just like the run- 
ning of the race. But it shows the deadly 
earnestness with which Paul engaged in 
this struggle with himself. The struggle 



Ch. X] 



I COEINTHIANS. 



65 





fathers were under the cloud, and all 


CHAPTER 10. 


passed through the sea; 


I Moreover, brethren, I would not that 


2 And were all baptized unto Moses in 


ye should be ignorant, how that all our 


the cloud and in the sea; 



with the body and all that it stands for, 
is not, if it be serious, a beating of the 
air, but a wrestling with a strong, resolute, 
and implacable foe. If Paul's own strug- 
gle is so severe, the Corinthians and other 
men must see to it that they do not take 
their struggle and their race too lightly. 
It is only by so running — like the winner 
at the Greek games — that we can attain. 



The Danger of Relapse, as Illustrated by 
Ancient Israel (x. 1-13). 

The connection between this paragraph 
and the last, obscured by the moreover of 
A. v., is very intimate (t^P : R. V. for). 
Paul has just been showing the over- 
whelming importance of self-discipline. He 
himself practises it, not only for the sake 
of the gospel and of others, but for his 
own soul's sake. It is not enough to enter 
upon the Christian race, we must run like 
the man who wins the prize. The Chris- 
tian conflict is no sparring contest; we 
must lay about us till the enemy is pros- 
trate. There is always the grim possibility 
that one who has begun well may end 
badly (dSo/ct^aos). Steady, strenuous vigi- 
lance and perseverance will alone enable a 
man to " attain." This principle is strik- 
ingly illustrated, Paul goes on to say, in the 
history of ancient Israel. They began 
well, enjoyed signal privileges, and in the 
end they were rejected : their bones bleached 
the desert. Those who shouted and sang 
over the victory at the Red Sea, never 
reached the promised land. Their corpses 
lay scattered and inglorious upon the wil- 
derness where they had played the apostate. 

Therefore let the Corinthians take heed, 
and not become like them : let him that 
thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 
If Israel fell, and Paul contemplates for 
himself at least the possibility of a fall, let 
the Corinthians beware. 

Further, this discussion of ancient Israel's 
sacramental experiences of baptism and the 
supper prepare the wa)^ for the discussion 
of the Christian sacrament and what it in- 
volved (x. 14-xi. 34). 

1-5. The contrast in vv. 1-5 is between the 
all — iravres five times repeated — who had 
enjoyed high privilege, and the very small 
minority (only two) — ovk iv rots irXeiocrt 
(ver. 5), who had been saved from de- 



struction. This may be brought out in 
English by while or though . . . yet. For 
— considering the danger, to which I 
have just alluded, of ultimate reprobation 
(ix. 27) — I would not have you igno- 
rant, brethren (the kindly address before 
the grave warning) : this phrase occurs 
several times in Paul's epistles, usually to 
introduce an important subject, which is 
either not adequately known or likely to 
be ignored' (cf. Rom. xi. 25) ; that, though 
ALL our fathers were under the cloud 
which guided their march (cf. Ex. xiv. 19) 
and ALL passed through the Red Sea, 
and ALL had themselves baptized 
{e^diTTidavTo) unto the leadership of 
Moses, and ALL drank the same spiritual 
food and ALL drank the same spiritual 
drink — for all the way they kept drink- 
ing {e-mvov, impf.) of a spiritual rock 
which continually followed them (and the 
rock was Christ) : though, in short, all 
our fathers enjoyed these privileges, yet 
not with the greater part of them — in- 
deed only with two, Caleb and Joshua 
(Num. xiv. 30) — was God well-pleased: 
so displeased was He that He destroyed 
them — for they were laid prostrate in 
death in the wilderness (Num. xiv. 16). 

I, 2. Our fathers: they were strictly the 
fathers of the Jews. But Paul is probably 
not thinking of the Jews in the church of 
Corinth, but rather of the Christian 
church _ as one with ancient Israel. The 
cloud i_s_ that which guided their march 
(Ex. xiii. 21), and is specially mentioned 
in connection with the incident of the Red 
Sea (Exod. xiv. 19). As the cloud was 
said to overshadow them (Ps. cv. 39), 
they could be described as under the 
cloud. The reference to the successful 
crossing of the Red Sea is primarily meant 
to illustrate the divine favor enjoyed by 
Israel, but the context shows that it was 
also intended to symbolize baptism: In 
the cloud and in the sea they received or 
gave themselves unto baptism. The middle 
voice e^aTTTiaavTo is deliberately chosen to 
imply their consent (cf. vi. 11), and is 
undoubtedly to be preferred to the easier 
i^aTTTladvcTav^ which is read by some ]\ISS. 
By this experience they acknowledged their 
allegiance to Moses, gave themselves over 
to his leadership, and, in this sense zuere 
baptized unto him, as Christians were bap- 
tized unto Christ. The analogy between 



66 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. X 



3 And did all eat the same spiritual 
meat; 

4 And did all drink the same spiritual 
drink; for they drank of that spiritual 
Rock that followed them : and that Rock 
was Christ. 

5 But with many of them God was not 



well pleased : for they were overthrown 
in the wilderness. 

6 Now these things were our examples, 
to the intent we should not lust after evil 
things, as they also lusted. 

7 Neither by ye idolaters, as zcere some 
of them ; as it is written, The people sat 



Israel's experience at the Red Sea and 
baptism is. to the modern mind, certainly 
not very close. The cloud and the sea 
represent the water : Israel went under the 
one and through the other on dry land — 
that is all. But Paul is interested here in 
detecting analogies between ancient Israel 
and the Christian church, and in finding 
in Israel's history anticipations of Chris- 
tian sacraments and experiences : Christ 
Himself was present throughout the wilder- 
ness wanderings, according to 4c. 

3, 4. All ate the same spiritual food — 
not the same as we Christians eat ; but all 
alike, each ate thfe same as the other, 
though the results were so different (cf. 
S) ; and all drank the same spiritual drink. 
The food and the drink are the manna 
(Exod. xvi. 13 ff.) and the water of Rephi- 
dim (Exod. xvii. 1-6) at the one end of 
the wanderings, and of Kadesh (Nuni. xx. 
2ff.) at the other. But why then spiritual? 
The manna and the water are represented 
as miraculous : the manna, e.g. is in Ps. 
Ixxviii. 24, food from heaven. This is 
part of the meaning, but not the whole of 
it. The miraculous manna was intended 
to point men beyond itself to the creating 
and sustaining power of God. " He fed 
thee with manna that he might make thee 
know that man doth not live by bread 
alone, but by everything that proceedeth out 
of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live " 
(Deut. viii. 3). The manna had a spiritual 
value: it was a testimony to a sphere be- 
yond that of natural and sensuous expe- 
rience (cf. ii. 14) : so also the water, 
struck from the flinty rock (cf. Ps. Ixxviii. 
15 f.). The food and drink vv^ere intended 
to sustain the spirit as well as the body, 
and to strengthen faith in a spiritual order. 
Indeed, these things were witnesses not so 
much to an order as to a presence — the 
presence of Christ. The water which 
they drank came from a spiritual rock 
which follozved them all the way, and that 
rock not only typified but actually was 
Christ. This thought may have been sug- 
gested to Paul by the Jewish tradition 
that the Israelites were accompanied on 
their march by a rock " globular, like a 
bee-hive," which rolled after the camp. 
The use of the word spiritual shows that 



Paul did not himself literally adopt this 
grotesque tradition, but he appears in this 
passage to have adapted it. The manna 
and the water (though only the latter is 
specifically alluded to in this connection) 
are manifestations of the wonder-working 
presence not so much of God, as of Christ, 
according to this passage. This implica- 
tion of Christ in Israel's early history is 
very rare in the New Testament; for an- 
other illustration, cf. Heb. xi. 26, where 
Moses in Egypt bears " the reproach of 
Christ." Considering the preceding refer- 
ence to baptism, and the subsequent allu- 
sion to the Lord's supper (vv. 16 f.), it 
seems highly probable that Paul regarded 
the food and drink of the wilderness as 
symbolic of that supper. 

5. Many were called, but few were 
chosen. All were privileged, all but two 
were destroyed, just as in the Greek races, 
there were many competitors, but only one 
winner (ix. 24). 

6. The situation in ancient Israel bids 
fair to be repeated in Corinth, and that 
story was written that we may take warn- 
ing. Paul goes on to point the moral more 
explicitly. Now these things — Israel's 
initial privileges and ultimate fall — were 
made examples for us (rather than in 
these things they proved types of us) to 
the end that we do not lust incessantly 
(lit. be not lusters, iTrLdvfnjrds) after evil 
things, as they on their part {nai) lusted. 
History is too apt to repeat itself: they 
and we, the fathers (ver. i) and the chil- 
dren — and so the sin rolls on, unless we 
allow ourselves to be taught by the fate 
of the fathers. They lusted after the good 
things of Egypt which they had left be- 
hind (Num. xi. 4, 5), and the Corinthians 
are similarly tempted by the attractions of 
the heathen life which they had nominally 
abandoned. 

7. After this general warning, Paul now 
enumerates the temptations in detail. First 
and fundamental was idolatry. Do not be- 
come idolaters, as some of them, that is, 
the Israelites. That was their temptation 
— as it stands in scripture (Exod. xxxii. 
6), "The people sat down to eat and 
drink, and rose up to play," on the occa- 
sion of their making of the golden calf — 



Ch. X] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



67 



down to eat and drink, and rose up to 
play. 

8 Neither let us commit fornication, as 
some of them committed, and fell in one 
day three and twenty thousand. 

9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some 
of them also tempted, and were destroyed 
of serpents. 

10 Neither murmur 3'e, as some of 
them also murmured, and were destroyed 
of the destroyer. 

11 Now ail these things happened unto 



them for ensamples :_ and they are writ- 
ten for our admonition, upon whom the 
ends of the world are come. 

12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he 
standeth take heed lest he fall. 

13 There hath no temptation taken you 
but such as is common to man : but God 
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be 
tempted above that ye are able ; but will 
with the temptation also make a way to 
escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 



and no less is it your temptation in Cor- 
inth. The pointed reference to eating in 
connection with idolatry recalls the broad- 
minded brother _ who sat at table in the 
idol's temple (viii. 10) and retrospectively 
condemns his conduct as practical idolatry 
(cf. ver. 21). Whether the play (dancing, 
Exod. xxxii. 19) took a licentious form 
or not, it is not without significance that 
the apostle mentions fornication imme- 
diately after idolatry (ver. 8). The wor- 
ship of Aphrodite in Corinth certainly in- 
volved immorality, though it is hardly 
likely that a Christian would need to be 
warned against participation in such a cult 
as that. 

8-10. Nor let us commit fornication, 
as some of them did with the Moabitish 
women, as recorded in Num. xxv. 1-3. 
This immorality was also the result of 
idolatry; and the end of it was that there 
fell in one day twenty-three thousand — 
twenty-four thousand, according to Num. 
xxv. 9. Apparently this is either a slip 
of memory on the part of Paul, or an error 
of some transcriber who mistook 5' for 7'. 
Nor let us put the patience of the Lord 
to the test, (cf. Isaiah vii. 13) as some 
of them did, when they complained that 
they had been brought up out of Egypt to 
perish in the wilderness (Num. xxi. 4-6; 
cf. xiv. 22), and they were destroyed 
(dTTwAXuz/To, graphic impf.) by the ser- 
pents. This testing of the divine patience, 
this challenging of the ways of God, is 
akin to the murmuring, against which Paul 
proceeds to caution the Corinthians. Nor 
murmur, as some of them did on many 
occasions (cf. Num. xiv. 2), but in par- 
ticular on the occasion of the rebellion of 
Korah (Num. xvi. 41), and they were de- 
stroyed by the angel destroyer (Num. 
xvi. 46-49) who destroyed the first born 
of the Egyptians (Exod. xii. 23), many 
Israelites after the presumptuous sin of 
David (2 Sam. xxiv. 16) and the As- 
syrian host in Hezekiah's time (Isaiah 
xxxvii. 36). As the murmuring for 



which Israel was thus punished was 
against Moses and Aaron (Num. xvi. 41) 
it> is possible, though the point should not 
be pressed, that the murmuring against 
which he is cautioning the Corinthians is 
against himself and his fellow-workers — 
such, for example, as the challenge of his 
apostleship (ix. 1-3). In favor of this 
view is the fact that he addresses his cau- 
tion here, as in ver. 7, in the second per- 
son, whereas in vv. 8, 9, he includes him- 
self with the Corinthians. There is an 
almost weird iteration in the Kadm rives 
avTuJv, Time after time Israel erred and 
was punished : similar sins and a similar 
fate are possibilities for the Corinthians, 
unless they allow themselves to be admon- 
ished (vovdeaia^ ver. II ) by the past. 

11-13. Now these things, one after 
the other, (impf. Gwe^aLvev) happened to 
those men by way of example, and they 
were written once for all (aorisf, iypdcpri) 
for the admonition of us, unto whom 
the ends of the ages have reached. Each 
age has its own end, and the end of all 
is the age in which Paul was writing — 
the age ushered in by Christ and preced- 
ing His second coming. The Christian 
church was the heir of all the past : history 
culminated in it, and the lessons taught by 
the past were for the church's admonition. 
Consequently, as a fall is only too possi- 
ble (witness the history of ancient Israel 
just alluded to) let him that imagines 
he stands, as the Corinthians, with their 
proneness to conceit, imagined, beware lest 
he fall. That is the lesson of the past. 
But, though there is the chance of falling, 
there is also the chance of overcoming : 
for temptation has not overtaken you 
except such as men can bear (lit. hu- 
man) : and besides, God can be trusted 
not to let you be tempted beyond your 
strength, but with the temptation he will 
also make the way out, so that you 
can bear up under it. In other words, 
there is need of vigilance (/3Xe7rerw) on the 
part of man, and faith in the gracious 



68 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. X 



14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee 
from idolatry. 

15 I speak as to wise men; judge ye 
what I say. 

16 The cup of blessing which we bless, 
is it not the communion of the blood of 
Christ? The bread which we break, is 



it not the communion of the body of 
Christ? 

17 For we being many are one bread, 
and one body: for we are all partakers of 
that one bread. 

18 Behold Israel after the flesh : are 
not they which eat of the sacrifices par- 
takers of the altar? 



will and the mighty power of God. God 
will watch those who watch themselves. 



Paul believed that the end of the existing 
order of things was near (vii. 26, 31), and 
it was partly with this in view that he 
describes his generation as that on which 
the ends of the ages have come. But in a 
sense this is true of our own age and of 
every age. History has issued in us ; the 
past and its lessons are for us. Of the 
events of Israel's history uniquely, but 
more or less of the events of all history 
it may be said: these things were exam- 
ples for us (ver. 6) and they were written 
for our admonition (ver. 11). This section 
illustrates the salutary influence of a knowl- 
edge of the past. / would not have you 
ignorant, brethren. We are reminded of 
the question of Jesus, Have ye not read 
— what David did? All the past is a 
source of instruction and warning, a reve- 
lation of the ways of God with men. 



The Lord or the Demons? (x. 14-22). 

14. The previous paragraph was a gen- 
eral warning against the danger of re- 
lapse, and more particularly a warning 
against idolatry. It was the idolatry of 
Israel that led to the fornication in ver. 
8, and the first of the four specific warn- 
ings ran, " Do not become idolaters " 
(ver. 7). It is natural therefore that the 
next section should begin (or it may be, 
as some suppose, the last section ends) 
with the w^ords: Wherefore, my be- 
loved, flee from idolatry. The particular 
temptation to which the Corinthians were 
exposed, was, as we have seen (cf. note on 
viii. 10) probably that involved in retain- 
ing their membership in Pagan clubs, in 
which union was cemented by common 
participation in a sacrificial feast. Par- 
ticipation in such a feast is altogether in- 
compatible with participation in the Lord"^ 
supper, and this contrast is elaborated with 
great earnestness throughout the section. 

15, 16. I speak as to men of good 
sense: judge of my statements for your- 



selves (vfieh). As for the cup which, at 
the institution of the supper, Jesus blessed, 
and which is thence known as the cup of 
blessing, the cup which we, that is, the 
church at large, or perhaps the presiding 
minister on its behalf — bless (that is, the 
cup over which we offer a prayer of 
thanksgiving: cf. ]\Iark viii. 6, evxapia-rriaas, 
7, evXoyrjffas) : does it (this cup) not con- 
stitute a fellowship in the blood of 
CHRIST, with which any manner of fel- 
lowship with demons is inconceivable? As 
for the bread which we break, does it 
not constitute a fellowship in the body 
of CHRIST? The cup is mentioned before 
the bread, as in Luke xxii. 17, 19, but cf. 
20. It is not impossible that the cup of 
blessing was so called from one of the 
cups, which bore the same name, in the 
passover feast : the old name was con- 
firmed and transformed by the blessing of 
Christ. Two kinds of fellowship are here 
suggested (a) that of the members with 
one another — by sharing something in 
common, they are associated ; (b) that of 
the members with Christ: that which they 
share in common is not a thing, but a 
Person, Christ Himself in His sacrificial 
aspect, symbolized by the blood shed and 
the body broken. The association of the 
members with Christ is as real as their 
association with each other. " The power 
of the Saviour is imparted to them in the 
Sacrament ; and they become a brotherhood 
and a fellowship in virtue of their com- 
mon relation to Him." It is not merely 
sharing in a rite, but union with a Person. 
17, 18. The stress of the argument lies 
on the fellowship of the members with 
Christ, which is incompatible with their 
fellowship with demons : verse 17 paren- 
thetically indicates the importance of their 
fellowship with one another through their 
common participation in the sacramental 
bread. Seeing there is one bread, we, 
many though we be (lit. the )na)iy), are 
one body, for we all have a share from 
(e/:) the one bread. Against the transla- 
tion of A. V. and R. V. ('* for we being 
many are one bread, and one body " A. V. ; 
" seeing that we, who are many, are 
one bread, one body," R. V.), the extreme 



Ch. X] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



69 



19 What say I then? that the idol is 
anything, or that which is offered in sacri- 
fice to idols is anything? 

20 But / say, that the things which the 
Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, 
and not to God : and I would not that 
ye should have fellowship with devils. 



21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the 
Lord, and the cup of devils : ye cannot be 
partakers of the Lord's table, and of the 
table of devils. 

22 Do we provoke the Lord to jeal- 
ousy? are we stronger than he? 



improbability of bread being used in two 
entirely different senses in one short verse 

— in the former half figuratively, in the 
latter literally — may be decisively urged. 
Again, e/c must have its full force : " we 
partake (R. V.: are ^partakers, A. V.) of" 
would require the simple genitive, e/c is 
bold and graphic here : it has its full 
force, and indicates the source by taking 
from which the members hold together, 
have in common (f^^Ta^ e'xw). That is the 
bond which binds them. To illustrate 
this point, Paul asks his readers to con- 
sider the ritual practice of the Jews, Israel 
after the flesh (as opposed to the spiritual 
Israel: cf. Gal. vi. 16, iv. 29, Rom. ii. 29). 
Do not those who eat the sacrifices 
have fellowship in the altar? (lit. "are 
they not communicants of the altar?"). 
The Jews were firmly bound to each other 
by the participation in a common meal 
and to their God by the recognition of a 
common altar, 

19, 20. Paul has been arguing for the 
reality of the communion between the 
worshipers and the object of their wor- 
ship established by the sacrificial meal. 
A natural inference would be that he at- 
tributed reality to the idols at the heathen 
feasts, and this he has already denied (viii. 
4, there is no idol in the world). So to 
guard against this , false inference, he con- 
tinues: What is it then that I affirm? 
That a thing sacrificed to an idol is 
anything? Certainly not: the earth and 
all its cattle are the Lord's, and meat 
will^ not affect our standing with God 
(viii. 8). Or am I asserting that an idol 
is anything? Certainly not: that I have 
already explicitly denied (viii.- 4). But 
what I assert isi this, that though the 
idol, the image itself, is nothing, these 
sacrifices do involve a real fellowship with 
demons. Evil spirits, under the leadership 
of Satan, had, according to a Jewish be- 
lief which Paul shared, real existence and 
influence, and were especially regarded as 
the inspirers of heathen cults (2 Cor, iv. 
4, Eph. ii. 2, vi. 12) : consequently, the 
sacrifices which the heathen offer, they 
offer to demons, and not, as a liberally 
disposed person might maintain, to God, 

— a quotation from Deut. xxxii. 17 (cf. 



Ps. cvi. 37) — and I do not wish you 
to have fellowship in demons. " Behind 
the idol to which the Pagan society sac- 
rifices is a certain demonic power ; and 
those who participate in the sacrificial 
feast become united in a mystic union with 
that power and with one another" (Ram- 
say in Expositor, 1900 vol. ii. p. 438, cf. 
1901 vol. iii. p. 100 ff.). 

21, 22. Such a mystic union was ob- 
viously completely exclusive of union with 
Christ. There was a spiritual incompati- 
bility between them. No man can serve 
two masters. Ye simply cannot drink the 
Lord's cup and the demons' cup: ye 
cannot share the Lord's table and the 
demons' table. A Christian cannot bind- 
himself by a solemn ritual to a power 
which is the enemy of Christ (cf. the 
TTopvTj in vi. 15). Or do we have the 
stupidity and the audacity to provoke the 
Lord to jealousy? (cf. Deut. xxxii. 21). 
The Lord might be God, but coming im- 
mediately after ver. 21 (the cup and the 
table of the Lord), it is no doubt Christ. 
Are we stronger than He? Surely we 
do not suppose that we can brave with 
impunity the righteous indignation of the 
powerful Christ (cf. 2 Cor. xiii. 3). 



The temptation for a broad-minded Co- 
rinthian to retain his fellowship in an asso- 
ciation which had brought him stimulus, 
profit, or friendship must have been great. 
He could argue that the meat partaken of 
at the common meal was unobjectionable, 
because the idol to which it had been sac- 
rificed was unreal, and that conscience 
therefore was in no way involved. Paul's 
answer is colored by the beliefs of the 
time : the sacrifice is offered to real demons, 
and it throws the worshipers into real 
association with them — an association in- 
compatible with their fellowship with 
Christ. The form of the argument is. 
temporary, but the principle behind Paul's 
statement is permanently true. A Christian 
must not identify himself — least of all in 
a formal and solemn manner — with in- 
fluences which, however seemingly inno- 
cent in expression, are anti-Christian in 
their origin and presuppositions. The bond 



70 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. X 



23 All things are lawful for me, but all 
things are not expedient : all things are 
lawful for me, but all things edify not. 

24 Let no man seek his own, but every 
man another's wealth. 



25 Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, 
that eat, asking no question for conscience' 
sake. 

26 For the earth is the Lord's, and the 
fulness thereof. 



between Christians must be a Christian 
bond: any other bond is not only a dis- 
loyalty, but a contradiction. In the words 
of Professor Ramsay, " the danger which 
Paul dreads in the Pagan societies was 
the formation of a tie of brotherhood in- 
consistent with and opposed to the tie of 
Christian union. Intercourse with Pagans 
is not forbidden ; one may mix in ordinary 
society, even though one knows that the 
Pagan does not obey those principles of 
pure life which the Christians must comply 
with. One may do business with them, ac- 
cept their invitations, eat and drink with 
them ; but one should not bind oneself to 
them by the ties of a common solemn 
ritual, which exercises a strong constrain- 
ing force on the will and nature of man, 
and prevents him from real devotion to 
Christ." (Expositor, 1900, vol. ii. p. 439.) 



The Limits of Liberty (x. 23-xi. i). 

The last quotation will serve to introduce 
the next section, which discusses the le- 
gitimacy of buying in the open market or 
eating in a private house meat that had 
been offered in sacrifice to idols. This 
case is essentially different from that dis- 
cussed in the last section. The idol is 
nothing, and the meat offered to it un- 
objectionable, yet there to partake of it 
was regarded as a practical denial of 
Christ, while here such conduct is tolerable. 
The difference is that there it was eaten 
at the demon's table, in a way which im- 
plied deliberate and formal association 
with demons ; here it is bought in the 
market or eaten in a friend's house, where 
the formal association with demonic powers 
is absent, and the meat can be taken for 
what it is worth, as a gift of the Lord, 
to whom all the earth belongs (ver. 26). 

Paul has a habit of returning, as here, 
to topics that he had discussed before (cf. 
viii), — suggesting, what is on other grounds 
probable, that the letter was not all com- 
posed at one time. The cases here dis- 
cussed would naturally be of frequent oc- 
currence among tlic Corinthian Christians, 
.and probably Paul had been expressly re- 
quested in their letter to discuss them. 



23, 24. All things not in themselves 
reprehensible (such as murmuring, forni- 
cation vv. 8, 9) are lawful: for me (fJ-oi) 
in this clause and the next, have been 
wrongfully inserted in the text under the 
influence of vi. 12. There the point was 
the restriction of a man's liberty for his 
own sake, here for the sake of others. 
All things are lawful, but they are not all 
profitable, in the sense of edifying, as 
the next clause shows. All things are 
lawful, but they do not all build up the 
church (iii. 9). Here again, as in vi. 12, 
we may suppose that all things are lazi'ful 
is said by the Corinthians, echoing per- 
haps a frequent word of Paul : the suc- 
ceeding clauses will then be his retort. 
We must be prepared to limit our liberty 
for the church's sake, especially for the 
sake of the scrupulous brother. Liberty 
is a trust, to be used unselfishly: let no 
man seek merely his own good, but every 
man also that of others (lit. the other). 
This restriction of liberty by consideration 
of others is illustrated in the sequel (ver. 
28). 

25, 26. As all morally neutral things 
are possible, where no other conscience is 
concerned, anything that is sold in the 
market you may eat, without making any 
investigation for conscience' sake. The 
last clause is capable of two interpreta- 
tions : (a) asking no questions, and that 
for the sake of conscience, that is, to 
keep conscience from being disturbed : or 
(b) asking no questions that arise out of 
conscientious scruples, (a) seems prefer- 
able. Paul is _ seeking to discourage the 
casuistical spirit : Bengcl happily remarks 
" Scrupulosity is often more injurious than 
simplicity." Paul is here thinking appar- 
ently of the conscience of the scrupulous 
brother (ver. 24). Where this is not in- 
volved, the Christian has a right to claim 
his liberty : for the earth is the Lord's 
and the fulness thereof — an original and 
happy application of the text Ps. xxiv. i. 
If the earth and all that fills it is God's, 
nothing is common or unclean, and the 
meat sacrificed to idols, as it is really 
God's, is as pure as any other. 



Ch. X] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



71 



27 If any of them that believe not bid 
you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go ; 
whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking 
no question for conscience' sake. 

28 But if any man say unto you, This 
is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not 
for his sake that shewed it, and for con- 
science' sake : for the earth is the Lord's, 
and the fulness thereof: 

29 Conscience, I sa)^ not thine _ own, 
but of the other: for why is my liberty 
judged of another man's conscience? 

30 For if I by grace be a partaker, 



why am I evil spoken of for that for which 
I give thanks? 

31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, 
or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory 
of God. 

2,2 Give none offence, neither to the 
Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the 
church of God : 

2Z Even as I please all men in all 
things, not seeking mine own profit, but 
the profit of many, that they may be 
saved. 



27-30. Similarly if one of the unbe- 
lieving Corinthians invites you to din- 
ner, and you make up your mind to go 

— Paul does not forbid them (cf. v. 10), 
but he does not encourage them — any- 
thing that is set upon the table you 
may eat, without making any investiga- 
tion for conscience' sake. The food is 
good, and if the question of its origin is 
not raised, the Christian may eat it freely. 
But, what if the question should be raised? 
If some body say to you, " This has been 
offered in sacrifice," what then? Whom 
are we to conceive as making this remark? 
Possibly an unbeliever who desires to em- 
barrass the Christian; but more probably, 
from the sequel, a scrupulous Christian 
brother, as it is his conscience that is con- 
sidered. It may be urged that a Christian 
would have used the word elbuXoOvTov (a 
thing sacrificed to idols), not lepodvTov (a 
sacred offering) ; but he may well have 
used the latter word out of deference to 
his pagan host. When, then, you are defi- 
nitely told that the meat has been offered 
to an idol, and another conscience will be 
affected by your conduct, do not eat it, 
for the sake of that man who gave the 
information and for conscience' sake, 
practically for the sake of the conscience 
of the man who gave the information, as 
the next verse makes very plain : con- 
science, I mean, not your own, but the 
other man's. So far as your conscience 
is concerned, you are free : for why is 
my liberty — Paul identifies himself with 
the liberal-minded brother, and speaks in 
the first person — to be judged by another 
conscience? Another conscience — a very 
striking phrase, much stronger than the 
conscience of another: it as it were objecti- 
fies and personifies conscience. Another 
conscience may affect my action, but it can- 
not be a conscience for me : what my con- 
science judges to be liberty, is still liberty 
for it. And if I on my part (^7^) partake 
of such food thankfully, that is, by saying 



grace before it, why am I to be evil 
spoken of in regard to that for which 
I (e7w) offer thanks? " Every creature 
of God is good, if it be received with 
thanksgiving" (i Tim. iv. 4), and no man 
has any right to speak evil of me, if I 
partake of such food, after offering up a 
prayer of gratitude. Paul is contending 
for the principle of Christian liberty; for 
the sake of another, I may refuse to avail 
myself of it, but it does not cease to be 
m.y right. As Bengel says, " His weak 
conscience cannot deprive my conscience of 
liberty." Findlay interprets differently : 
" What good end will be served by my 
eating under these circumstances, and ex- 
posing my freedom to the censure of an 
unsympathetic conscience?" and in the 
next clause — if my thanksgiving leads to 
his blasphemy, what good end is served by 
that? tVa ri is elliptical: supply Tej/Tjrat, 
in order that what may happen? to what 
purpose? why? 

X. 31-xi. I. The argument is concluded 
(ovv) as often in Paul, by an exhortation. 
Whether then ye eat food that has been 
sacrificed to idols or any other food, or 
drink, or do anything (practically = ic-'/zaf- 
cver else ye do), do all things to the 
glory of God, i.e. with that in view, with 
that as your end (et's) : all {iravra^ first and 
emphatic) your conduct should be a prog- 
ress towards that, a contribution to that. 
Give no offense either to Jews, by need- 
lessly wounding their scruples, or to 
Greeks, e.g. by an unrestricted use of your 
liberty, or to the church of God by dis- 
regarding, e.g. the prejudices of the scru- 
pulous. All classes of men alike {Kai-Kai- 
Kai) were to be conscientiously considered 
— those without the church (Jews and 
Greeks), and those within. This was 
Paul's own practice : even as I also 
please (that is, accommodate myself to, 
cf. ix. 22) all men in all things, not 
seeking my own advantage, but that of 
the many (cf. ver. 24) that they may be 



72 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XI 



CHAPTER II. 
I Be ve followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 



saved. This being his own practice 
(dpetr/cw) as well as principle, he could 
afford to say, Show yourselves imita- 
tors of me, as I on my part (Kayui) (am) 
of Christ, who pleased not Himself, but 
gave Himself to and for others. The 
glory of God and the good {tva coidHaLv) 
of men — these are the two master-mo- 
tives of the true Christian life. 



It is significant that the phrase for con- 
science' sake, which occurs three times in 
this passage (vv. 25, 27, 28) should refer 
to the conscience of others {tt]v tov krepov) , 
Christianity is ahvays considering the other 
man; and in every delicate problem his 
conscience is a factor as well as mine. 
Society and the church have to be edified, 
but they are edified, not by knowledge, but 



by love (viii. i) ; and the good man will 
be prepared to restrict his liberty for his 
brother's sake. At the same time that lib- 
erty remains, and (on what seems the more 
appropriate interpretation of vv. 29, 30), 
Paul is as anxious to defend the liberty of 
the one man as the conscience of the other. 
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness 
thereof, and the more the scruples of the 
narrow-minded brother are dispelled by 
clearer insight and growing charity, the 
wider will be the range of actual as well 
as of theoretical liberty, till all morally 
neutral things will be possible. But in the 
meantime it is our duty, in matters that do 
not violate principle, to accommodate our- 
selves " in all things to all men," with the 
hope and the aim of winning and saving 
them. This is the true Imitatio Christi. 



74 



I COEINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XI 



THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP (xi.-xiv), 



CHAPTER II. 

2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye 
remember me in all things, and keep the 
ordinances, as I delivered them to you. 



3 But I would have you know, that the 
head of every man is Christ ; and the head 
of the woman is the man ; and the head of 
Christ is God. 



After the elaborate discussion of the 
Christian's relation to idolatry and the 
customs with which it was implicated, it is 
fitting that the apostle should turn to the 
consideration of the question of true wor- 
ship. This was the more necessary, as 
abuses had grown up in connection with the 
conduct of public worship. The women 
had claimed and enjoyed an unseemly 
prominence, and the Lord's supper had 
been administered in a manner not only 
unbecoming, but disgraceful. Paul pro- 
ceeds therefore to consider these questions, 
and others connected with the public Hfe 
of the church, such as the exercise of 
spiritual gifts ; and this leads him to dis- 
cuss the mutual dependence of the mem- 
bers of the church, and the incomparable 
superiority of love. 



Women and the Veil (xi. 2-16). 

One of the indirect results of Paul's 
preaching was a growing assertiveness on 
the part of the women. His great and 
daring words were liable to misunderstand- 
ing and abuse. The doctrine that " all 
things are possible to me " had been in- 
terpreted as license, and the doctrine that 
" there can be neither Jew nor Greek, 
there can be neither bond nor free, there 
can he no male and female; for ye are 
all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. iii. 28), 
easily lent itself to similar misinterpretation, 
Paul has to remind the Corinthians of 
their duty to remain in the state in which 
they had been called (vii. 20, 24) ; instead, 
slaves had been yearning for liberty, and 
Christian women, as we learn from this 
chapter, had begun to throw off the con- 
ventional marks of their subordination to 
men, and to assert the equality with them 
which they believed .themselves, as Chris- 
tians, to possess. Paul's great doctrine of 
equality was beginning to be practically 
applied by them in disturbing and possibly 
dangerous ways : and in the interests of 
" comeliness and order," perhaps also for 
the fair name of the gospel, Paul utters a 
word of warning. 



2. Reproof is coming ; so Paul, with his 
customary tact (cf. i. 4) strikes a note of 
eulogy at the beginning. Now (in 5e' he 
passes to a new subject) I praise you 
that in all things ye have remembered 
and still remember me (pf. fxe/jLvnade)^ 
and in particular that ye maintain the 
traditions just as I delivered them to 
you. This eulogy, as Lietzmann suggests, 
may have been occasioned by a remark in 
the Corinthian letter to Paul to this effect : 
" As we are always at pains to follow your 
instructions, we should like you to state 
your opinion with regard to the veiling of 
women at divine service." It is difficult to 
reproduce in English the echo so obvious 
in the Greek trapebuKa tols Trapadoaeis. The 
word traditions too is somewhat mislead- 
ing : it is simply something handed on, 
committed to, another ; and here no doubt 
refers to the instructions in matters of 
discipline and doctrine expressly given 
(aor. irapibujKa) to the Church by Paul. 
For such a " tradition " of doctrine, cf. xv. 
3, where the same word is used ; and of 
practice, cf. xi. 23. It is not expressly 
said in the passage before us, as in these 
two passages, that Paul had himself re- 
ceived {-rrapeXa^ov : from the Lord, xi. 23) 
the instructions which he passed on to 
them; and perhaps, as the matter he is 
about to discuss, simply affects church dis- 
cipline and order, we are to regard these 
instructions as given simply on his own 
initiative. Even nature herself (ver. 14) 
should have taught the offenders the pro- 
priety of the course he is urging. 

3. But, though you have observed, as 
you say, my instructions, there are matters 
which still need to be amended. I desire 
you therefore — Paul is very earnest — to 
know: the Corinthians, despite their wis- 
dom, had not realized that equality in es- 
sential respects is perfectly consistent with 
subordination in other respects, and that 
society, including the church, is an ordered 
system, whose mutual relationships must 
be strictly observed. This Paul puts tersely 
and concretely, when he sa\-s he would 
have them know that of every man. Chris- 
tian and Pagan alike, Christ is the head. 



Ch. XI] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



75 



4 Every man praying or prophesying, 
having his head covered, dishonoureth his 
head. 

5 But every woman that prayeth or 
prophesieth with her head uncovered dis- 
honoureth her head : for that is even all 
one as if she were shaven. 

6 For if the woman be not covered, let 



her also be shorn : but if it be a shame for 
a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her 
be covered. 

7 For a man indeed ought not to cover 
his head, forasmuch as he is the image and 
glory of God : but the woman is the glory 
of the man. 



for He is the one Lord of creation, through 
whom are all things (viii. 6) : while the 
man is head of woman, and God is head 
of Christ (cf. iii. 23). In the Christian 
sphere, woman and man are mutually de- 
pendent, as Paul admits in ver. 11 : indeed 
on an essential equality (Gal. iii. 28). Yet 
in the practical relations of society and 
church, the ordinary distinction between 
the sexes holds ; the man is head, and the 
true woman will not aspire _ to that 
supremacy, any more than Christ would 
aspire to equality with God (Phil. ii. 
6). 

4, 5. As man has no visible head or 
superior, he must not wear a symbol of 
submission : but as woman's head is man, 
she must wear such a sign — in her case, 
the veil. Any man praying or prophesy- 
ing — the New Testament prophet is one 
who is inspired to speak words of edifica- 
tion and comfort to the church (xiv. 3) — 
with (lit. having) (a veil hanging) down 
from his head, disgraces his head, that 
is, by wearing this token of submission. 
But what is meant by the second reference 
to his head? Is it Christ, as is implied by 
the previous verse? or is " head " to be taken 
literally, as it is earlier in the verse. 
The former is tempting, especially after the 
explicit definition of ver. 3, but the latter 
is, on the whole, the more natural. The 
same doubt gathers about the allusion to 
the woman's head later in the verse. It 
is not implied that any man did thus pray 
or prophesy veiled ; but the disgrace im- 
plied in this imaginary case illustrates the 
womian's disgrace all the more forcibly. 
And any woman praying or prophesying 
with bare head (lit. with her head un- 
covered) disgraces her head, whether man 
(ver. 3) or her own head — ^ some MSS. 
actually read eavTrjs, The disgrace of a 
woman speaking in public with bare head, 
was all the greater, as it was a disgrace 
for her to speak in public at all : women 
should be silent in church (xiv. 34, i Tim. 
ii. 12). Paul, however, attacks here only 
the immodesty involved in discarding the 
veil, which greatly aggravated the offense 
of their speaking at all : his protest against 



this latter offense he reserves till xiv. 34. 
In public, Greek women drew the upper 
fold of the robe over the head like a hood. 
The woman who prayed bare-headed had 
disgraced her head, for she is one and the 
same as the woman who, like slave- 
women and adulteresses, is shaven. 
Courtesans wore no veil : consequently a 
Christian woman who wore none would 
be exposing herself to the gravest misun- 
derstanding. In her shamelessness she 
would seem to be little better than an 
adulteress, whose head was shaven b^ way 
of penalty. In spite of the neuters ev and 
TO avTo^ the participle rri i^vprjfievri^ shows 
that we must translate she (not ii) is the 
same ; the other would require the infinitive, 
Toj i^vpijadai^ 

6. The frequent repetition of ya.p shows 
how closely the argument is knit. For if 
a woman is unveiled (oj), not m, forms 
one idea with the verb) let her take a 
step further and cut her hair close — 
she shows her shamelessness by removing 
the covering prescribed by custom, she may 
as well remove that provided by nature — 
but if it is disgraceful for a woman to 
have her hair cut close or shaved (and 
even the Christian wom,en who pray bare- 
headed would admit this) then let her 
cover herself with a veil. 

7. Another reason for his contention 
Paul derives from the story of the creation. 
For man (or a man) ought not to have 
his head covered, seeing that he is, as 
Genesis i. 26, declares him to be, " the 
image" and glory of God: he is like God 
in his dominion over the world, and the 
splendor of God is visibly reflected in 
him. He wears no symbolic veil, ,as he 
has no visible superior. But the woman 
is the glory — she could not strictly be 
called_ the image — of man, reflecting the 
qualities which give him his true worth, 
and as such she ought to wear the veil, 
which symbolizes her subordination. The 
force of the argument from Scripture is 
somewhat weakened, in substance, though 
not in the letter, by the fact that the very 
next v^erse after the one Paul quotes 
(Gen. i. 27) reads: "God created man 



76 



I COEINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XI 



8 For the man is not of the woman ; 
but the woman of the man. 

9 Neither was the man created for the 
woman ; but the woman for the man. 

10 For this cause ought the woman to 
have power on her head because of the 
angels. 

11 Nevertheless neither is the man 
without the w^oman, neither the woman 
without the man, in the Lord. 

12 For as the woman is of the man, 



even so is the man also by the woman, 
but all things of God. 

13 Judge in yourselves : is it comely 
that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 

14 Doth not even nature itself teach 
you, that, if a man have long hair, it is 
a shame unto him? 

15 But if a woman have long hair, it 
is a glory to her : for her hair is given 
her for a covering. 

16 But if any man seem to be conten- 



in His own image ; male and female created 
He them." 

8-10. Two other reasons for the wear- 
ing of the veil ; woman was created from 
man (ver. 8) and for him (ver. 9). For, 
referring to the creation story in Gen. ii, 
man is not from woman, but woman 
from man, being formed of one of his 
ribs. For also man was not created for 
the woman's sake, but woman for the 
man's sake, to be his helper. First the 
man, then the woman : man is prior to the 
woman in time and in importance, accord- 
ing to the argument. On this account 
the woman ought (o0etXet, as the man 
ought not, ovK 6(f)€i\eL, ver. 7), to have the 
sign of the man's authority upon her 
head, by reason of the angels, who are 
apparently conceived (cf. Gal. iii. 19) as 
guardians of the divine order (including 
the relation of the sexes) established at 
creation, and present, though unseen, at 
the public worship of the church. In iv. 
9, angels as well as men eagerly watch 
the pathetic fortunes of the apostles, just 
as here apparently they watch the conduct 
of the worshipers. Another possible ex- 
planation of this difficult phrase connects 
it with the story of Gen. vi. 2, according 
to which the angels fell in love with mortal 
women; the implication here being that 
women, who appear unveiled, may be the 
cause of similar temptation. 

II, 12. At this point Paul feels the ne- 
cessity of qualifying his argument some- 
what. Its drift has been to emphasize the 
subordination of woman: and yet that does 
not completely represent Paul's view : for 
neither is woman apart from man nor 
man apart from woman in the Lord. 
In the Christian sphere there is a mutual 
dependence of the sexes, in the Christian 
order both are necessary, each is the com- 
plement and counterpart of the other. 
For just as the first woman was made 
from the man, so now, in the ordinary 
course of nature, the man enters the 
world through the woman: the first 
woman owed her being to man, all subse- 



quent men owe their being to women; 
and all — men, women, and things — are 
from God, have their source (e/c) in Him, 
and depend upon Him. Here, by one of 
his deft touches, Paul lifts the matter out 
of the region of controversy, and sets it in 
a larger light (cf. iii. 23). 

13-15. But altogether apart from Scrip- 
ture, Paul feels that he may safely appeal 
to the common sense of the Corinthians, 
and to their instinct for the social pro- 
prieties. Judge ye among yourselves: is 
it becoming for a woman to be unveiled 
when she prays to God? (the addition 
to God heightens the unseemliness of her 
conduct). Not only, however, does in- 
stinct point to that conclusion, but also 
that outward order of things which we 
call nature. Why, does not even nature 
itself teach you that a man's long hair 
is a dishonor to him, while a woman's 
is her glory? for her hair has been given 
her, as woman's permanent gift (perf. 
dedorat)^ instead of a covering, and to 
serve the purpose of a veil. This appeal 
to nature, a favorite word of Aristotle's, 
is of peculiar interest in the pages of 
Paul. 

16. Having urged his argument from 
the standpoint of s6cial convention, Scrip- 
ture, common sense, and nature, Paul 
brings the discussion to a peremptory con- 
clusion. Now if any one presumes to be 
contentious, WE (T?Meis. emphatic) have no 
such custom, nor have the churches of 
God. Some have seen in this abrupt con- 
clusion a suspicion, on the part of Paul, 
that his arguments were inadequate. This 
appears to do him less than justice. He 
has pursued the discussion as long as he 
is accustomed to do in such cases, and 
his arguments are similar to those he em- 
ploys elsewhere ; for example, in his dis- 
cussion of the maintenance of the ministry 
(ix. 1-14). In zve liaz'e no sueh custom, 
he does not mean the custom of being 
contentious, but of allowing women to take 
public part in the worship unveiled. He 
does not believe in the custom himself, nor 



Oh. XI] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



77 



tious, we have no such custom, neither 
the churches of God. 

17 Now in this that I declare unto you 



I praise you not, that ye come together 
not for the better, but for the worse. 



is it practiced, as perhaps the Corinthians 
think, by other churches of God: the last 
two words lend a certain solemnity to the 
conclusion — quite in Paul's manner. 



This singularly interesting discussion of 
the use of the veil for women when they 
are taking, as Paul thinks they should not 
take (xiv. 34), a prominent part in public 
worship is both very remote from, and 
very near to, the interests of the modern 
world. To a modern mind, most of the 
arguments by which Paul supports his con- 
tention are distinctly unconvincing. His 
description of man as the glory of God 
while woman is only the glory of man, 
does not commend itself to us, nor is it 
apparently in the spirit of Gen. i. 27. Nor 
would the use which he makes of the 
ancient Hebrew story of the creation of 
woman from man satisfy a modern mind, 
nor his view that man was not made for 
woman, but only woman for man. The 
phraseology, like the arguments, moves in 
another world than ours, notably ver. 10 
(literally, "the woman ought to have au- 
thority upon her head on account of the 
angels"). The subordination of women 
for which Paul is pleading, and which he 
carries so far as to prescribe for them 
silence, seems to move upon a lower plane 
than the great assertion in Galatians iii. 
28, that " there can be no male and female, 
for all are one in Christ Jesus," and lower 
than the admission in this very context that 
"neither is woman without man nor man 
without woman in the Lord." 

But while the arguments of Paul may be 
unconvincing, his conclusions we feel to be 
right. Ideally, there is neither male nor 
female, all are one in Christ ; but practically, 
distinctions between the sexes subsist and 
must be recognized. Religion does well 
to respect the conventions, unless when the 
conventions themselves are opposed to re- 
ligion. Whether a woman should or should 
not wear a veil when addressing a religious 
meeting, may seem a very insignificant mat- 
ter for an apostle to discuss, especially an 
apostle who laid so little stress on external 
things (vii. 19). But even seemingly in- 
significant matters may, on occasion, be of 
the gravest importance. Only women of 
the lowest type would appear unveiled in 
Corinth ; and a Christian woman who did 
so would expose herself and her religion 



to the certainty of misunderstanding. That 
particular application of Christian liberty, 
in that particular age, could only lead to 
harm; but it does not follow that it would 
be illegitimate under the very different cir- 
cumstances of our own age. 

Again, in spite of the essential equality 
of the sexes, the teaching of instinct 
{irpeirov^ what is seemly) and nature 
(17 (pvGLs) have to be considered in questions 
of practical conduct. Christianity may 
have to reform convention : but if con- 
vention be the embodiment of a principle 
fundamental to the order of society, Chris- 
tianity will confirm and transform it. 



The Lord's Supper (xi. 17-34). 

This section, dealing with the abuses 
which characterized the Corinthian cele- 
bration of the Lord's supper, is closely 
connected with the previous section, dif- 
ferent though its theme may seem to be, in 
that they both deal with the decorum which 
Christians are bound to observe in their 
public assemblies. Of this decorum the 
unseemly selfishness displayed at the Sup- 
per was a violation in one direction, just 
as the unveiled women were in another. 
But there is a peculiar solemnity about 
this discussion, manifesting itself sometimes 
in a certain stately repetition as well as 
in the general tone of it, which shows how 
much more serious to Paul was the one 
abuse than the other. The one was a vio- 
lation of instinct and nature ; this is a 
crime against the Lord Himself, for which 
heavy punishment has already fallen (ver. 
30), and there is danger of a judgment yet 
more terrible (ver. 34). 

This passage also illustrates admirably 
the casual and occasional nature of Paul's 
epistles. The solemn injunctions relative 
to the Lord's supper, which have for so 
long controlled the practice of the church, 
really owe their origin to the scandalous 
celebrations of the Corinthian church, 
which Paul is here censuring. They are 
at once a rebuke and a model ; and we 
might never have had the model, but for 
the need of the rebuke. 

17. Now in giving this charge. It 
is difficult to say whether Paul means the 
charge which he has just given regarding 
the veiling of the women, or that which 
he is about to give, regarding the seemly 



78 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XI 



i8 For first of all, when ye come to- 
gether in the church, I hear that there be 
divisions among you ; and I partly believe 

it. 

19 For there must be also heresies 
among you, that they which are approved 
may be made manifest among you. 



20 When ye come together therefore 
into one place, this is!not to eat the Lx)rd's 
supper. 

21 For in eating every one taketh be- 
fore other his own supper: and one is 
hungry and another is drunken. 



celebration of the supper — that a man 
must examine himself (ver. 28) and wait 
for his neighbor (ver. 33) ; on the whole, 
the former seems the more natural. The 
first words of the new paragraph connect 
the one charge with the other: that Paul 
has the former paragraph in mind is plain 
from his repetition of the word praise 
(iraivu), ver. 17) which looks back to ver. 
2, There were many things for which he 
could praise the Corinthians, other things — 
one in particular — which deserved the 
sharpest censure; though Paul, by a polite 
understatement, simply says that in this 
thing I do not praise you. His implied 
censure is relative to the conduct and re- 
sults of their public meetings. _ He has the 
sacrament, no doubt, specially in view, but 
he begins with the general statement, that 
your meetings do not tend to (els) your 
improvement, but to your deterioration. 
When Christians come together, the result 
should be that they become better; instead, 
the Corinthians become worse. They are 
confirmed, not in brotherly feeling towards 
one another, and in deyotion to their, com- 
mon Lord, but in greed _ and selfishness. 
The apostle could not praise that. 

18, 19. For — the general charge Paul 
is prepared to support by particulars, which 
he has indeed upon hearsay (a/foOw), but 
which he has no good reason to doubt — 
in the first place: this phrase is not 
followed up by any eireLra de (in the second 
place), and possibly Paul is not thinking 
for the moment of any second and sub- 
sequent charge. The word may be simply 
used to introduce the charge, and to sug- 
gest its serious nature. Those who main- 
tain that the phrase implies a second 
charge, either refer the first to the schisms 
(vv. 17-19), and the second to the abuses 
in connection with the supper (vv. 20 ff.), 
or the first to the whole section (vv. 17- 
34), and the second to the abuse of spir- 
itual gifts which he proceeds to discuss in 
xii. However, whether a second charge_ is 
distinctly in view or not, I hear — his in- 
formation is apparently continuous (ct/couw) 
and docs not rest upon a single informant 
— that at your meetings in church (not 
the buildino-, but the Christian assembly) 
divisions exist among you, divisions, not 



of an intellectual or dogmatic kind, though 
they existed too (i. 10), but those more 
hateful divisions built upon social distinc- 
tions, which expressed themselves in prac- 
tical contempt for the poor (ver. 22). 
Paul has only too good reason to suspect 
that his information is true, if not all of it, 
at least some of it, and I partly believe 
it. For of course, in a sense, divisions 
are inevitable (cf. Mat. xviii. 7) and there 
must also be parties among you: atpeo-iy 
has not yet the developed meaning of 
heresy, nor is it even sect (cf. Acts xxviii. 
22). It primarily indicates choice, and its 
use here shows how naturally it might 
pass into the other meanings. These di- 
visions, however, deplorable as they are, 
serve a divine purpose : they are part of 
the order of things, in order that the 
reputable among you (lit. those that are 
approved) may be shown as such. The 
parties, while they reveal the depravity of 
some, reveal no less the excellence of 
others. Bousset, however, regards ver. 19 
as ironical. " The Corinthians may have 
suggested that these contests in the church 
had the advantage of bringing out who 
had right on his side. Paul contents him- 
self with an ironical repetition of that 
dangerous doctrine. He has already told 
us what he believes of party contests in 
the church, of their harm and uselessness." 
20-21. The divisive and sectional spirit 
of which he has just complained, is illus- 
trated Avith special force in the conduct of 
the Corinthians at the celebration of the 
Lord's supper. It was conunon in the 
Greek world of those days for guilds, 
clubs, or societies, united by a common 
interest, to dine together at regular inter- 
vals ; so that the idea of a common meal 
as the expression of a corporate spirit, 
would be suggested to the Corinthian Chris- 
tians as well by the usages of society as 
by their desire to commemorate the last 
supper of our Lord. This church-supper 
probably took place originally once a week, 
on the first day (Acts xx. '7). The love- 
feast, as this common meal was called (cf. 
Jude 12), was apparently followed (some 
think preceded) by the celebration of the 
Lord's supper. The supper was conducted 
in such a way at Corinth that it was no 



€h. XI] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



79 



22 What ! have ye not houses to eat 
and to drink in? or despise ye the church 
of God, and shame them that have not? 
What shall I say to you? shall I praise you 
in this ? I praise you not. 



2S For I have received of the Lord 
that which also I delivered unto you, That 
the Lord Jesus, the same night in which 
he was betrayed, took bread : 



love-feast, or Lord's supper at all. It was 
-such abuses as are censured here that later 
led to the separation of the love-feast from 
the Lord's supper and ultimately to the 
abolition of the former altogether. 

This section is closely connected with 
the last (cf. ovv and the deliberate repeti- 
tion of <Tvv€pxo[xivwv vfiuiv). The divisions 
there deplored manifest themselves in their 
celebration of the supper here censured. 
In your church gatherings, then, by no 
possibility is it the supper of THE LORD 
that ye are eating. Either, "it is not pos- 
sible to eat the Lord's supper " ; or " that 
is not an eating of the Lord's supper " : 
in either case, the accent falls on KvpiaKov, 
Each came when he pleased, and ate by 
himself; it was therefore a private supper, 
ibiov deiirvov^ but not a supper of the Lord. 
There was no sense of community about 
it either with one another or with the 
Lord whom it was supposed to commemo- 
rate : not with one another — for the rich 
showed no consideration for the poor ; and 
not with the Lord — for the whole man- 
ner of the celebration was a scandal, and 
totally unzvorthy of Him (ver. 27). It 
was no supper of the Lord, for every 
man hurries to take his own supper at 
the meal: that is, there was no waiting 
for one another, such as Paul later en- 
joins (ver. 3s), but the rich man, as soon 
as he arrives, hastens to consume what he 
has brought {irpoXaix^avei^ anticipates others 
in taking it) so as to be under no obliga- 
tion of dividing it with the poor man, who, 
unlike the rich man, is perhaps not master 
of his time, and so may be compelled to 
come later. Where the meal was eaten in 
such a straggling fashion, it is plain that 
there can have been little place for prayer 
■and for the solemn words of consecration 
which ought to have accompanied it (vv. 
23-25), so that from every point of view, 
the celebration M^as a scandal : and while 
one is hungry, another is drunk, and this 
at the most solemn meal of Christian 
brethren ! not only brotherliness and hos- 
pitality forgotten, but even decency thrown 
to the winds — unless indeed we adopt a 
milder interpretation, " drinks to satiety." 

22. In the light of so shocking a scan- 
dal, is it any wonder then the apostle 
asks with indignant irony : So ye have 
no houses, have ye not, for eating and 



drinking in? Surely they would not bring 
their too healthy appetites to the church 
meeting, if they had houses, m which 
those appetites could be satisfied. But, as 
they^^ are in point of fact very well off 
{ol exopTcs, pre-eminently those who have, 
ver. 22), then their only motive appears 
to be deliberate contempt of the church. 
Or is it that ye despise the church, 
which is no institution of man's founding, 
but the great church of God? By this dig- 
nified term the apostle sets in the more 
glaring light the disgraceful conduct of 
its members. And are ye affronting the 
poor? God, to whom the church belongs, 
Christ,^ who founded the sacrament, and the 
poor who were chosen to be " heirs of the 
kingdom" (James ii. 5), were all alike 
insulted in this celebration. The poor 
are made to feel shame by their super- 
cilious treatment at the hands of the 
church. Those zvho have not, the class 
(fj-v) rather than the individuals (ov), are 
clearly the poor; it would be jejune to 
argue from the oZ/cias ovk exere at the be- 
ginning of the verse, that the reference is 
to "those who have not (houses)." Paul 
is sorrowfully indignant, but he speaks 
with fine self-control. What am I to say 
to you? Am I to praise you? Deserving 
of praise as you may be in other points 
(ver. 2), in this point at least — and^ a 
very serious one it is — I do not praise 
you (cf. ver. 17), a mild, understatement : 
he really means — so serious an offense is 
worthy not of praise, but of rebuke. 

23. He cannot commend the Corin- 
thians ; for the tradition which he had re- 
ceived from the Lord and handed on to 
them was of a very different kind from 
that to which they were conforming. For 
as for me (eyd)) — so far as the tradition 
is concerned, he is the connecting link be- 
tween the Lord and them — I received 
from the Lord that which I have also 
delivered to you. The preposition diro 
simply indicates in a general way source 
or origin, and does not necessarily imply 
the direct personal communication which 
would have been suggested by -rrapd ; so far 
as the preposition is concerned, Paul's 
knowledge of the institution may have 
rested simply upon apostolic tradition. But 
the whole tone of the context, and the 
verb Trape\a§ov^ which seems to point back 



80 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XI 



24 And when he had given thanks, he 
brake it, and said, Take, eat ; this is my 
body, which is broken for you : this do 
in remembrance of me. 

25 After the same manner also he took 



the cup, when he had supped, saying, This 
cup is the new testament in my blood : 
this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in re- 
membrance of me. 



to a definite historical occasion, rather 
suggest that Paul had some special revela- 
tion, as, for example, in a vision. In the 
very similar sentence in xv. 3, Paul sim- 
ply says he " received " (same word) certain 
truths, without mentioning their origin. 
The personal touch here adds a warmth 
and solemnity to his statement. " All that 
he heard about Jesus," says Lietzmann, 
" before and after his conversion, appears 
to him as a gift received at Damascus from 
the Lord Himself." Like a Jewish rabbi, 
Paul passed on his instruction from his 
Master to his pupils : with a true sense of 
the importance of such a " tradition " from 
the Master, he not only received it, but 
also (/cat) delivered it — delivered it, too, 
to the very people who were now so 
flagrantly disregarding it (i'/"t>). 

23, 24. What he had received and de- 
livered was this, that the Lord Jesus — 
(not Christ, but Jesus: the use of His 
earthly name carries us back to certain 
great historical facts) — in the night on 
which He was being betrayed, took 
bread. The imperfect tense (TrapeSt'Sero) 
graphically summons up the whole scene, 
and in the mention of His betrayal, is a 
latent rebuke of the Corinthian disorders. 
Surely they had altogether forgotten the 
pathetic circumstances a.ttending the origin 
of the institution of the Supper, or they 
could never have celebrated it with such 
indecency. It was One who was being be- 
trayed who desired to be remembered, and 
this was how they were remembering Him! 
He took bread, and having offered a 
prayer of thanksgiving (very wonderful 
on the night of his betrayal; thanksgiving 
amid treachery). He brake it. The bread 
was broken for distribution : here is an- 
other tacit censure of the Corinthians, who 
never thought of distribution, but took 
each man his own supper: There could 
be no more flagrant contrast than that be- 
tween the Lord's supper, and the Corin- 
thian supper. Jesus not only performed 
the act. He explained it : He broke the 
bread and said: This is my body which 
is for you (see 2 Cor. v. 21). It is plain 
that, as Jesus is standing there in the ilcsh 
before His disciples, there can be no 
thought of the bread being literally His 
body; but it represents Hii body in that it 
was broken, and broken on their behalf. 



and implicitly on behalf of all who sustain 
the relation of discipleship to Jesus, there- 
fore on behalf of the Corinthian converts 
and of us. True, the original text read 
simply TO virkp v/jlwv^ which is for you ; 
K\u[ievov (broken) is a later gloss, which, 
however, is quite correct as an interpreta- 
tion. The breaking of the body is a ref- 
erence to His death, which becomes more 
explicit in the following allusion to His 
blood. Paul here by implication, and in 
ver. 26 directly, reminds the selfish and 
flippant Corinthians, that they are not only 
celebrating a supper, but commemorating 
a death. What Jesus had done, His disci- 
ples were to do — take the bread, give 
thanks and break it : this do in remem- 
brance of me, and this they were to do 
continually (pres. imperative) on every oc- 
casion on which the supper was celebrated. 
The object of it all was to keep the par- 
ticipants in mind of Him, and especially 
of His death for them ; the Corinthians 
showed, by their conduct at the supper, 
that they were far enough from remember- 
ing Him and His death. 

25. In like manner also He took the 
cup, gave thanks and gave it to them, 
after supper. In the original celebration, 
the eating of the bread was apparently 
part of the common meal : it was zchile 
they were eating that He took bread (cf. 
Mark xiv. 22), and at the conclusion of 
the meal He takes the symbolic cup. say- 
ing, " This cup is the new covenant in 
my blood." As the bread represented the 
body, so the wine represents the blood. 
This is the form the statement assumes in 
Mark xiv. 24 (Mat. xxvi. 28). "This (the 
cup of wine) is my blood of the covenant:" 
but the statement of Paul is practically 
identical : " This cup is the new covenant 
(standing or established) in my blood," 
in accordance with the Old Testament 
idea that in a covenant between God and 
men the shedding of blood is necessary. 
The nezv covenant glances back to the 
great prophecy of Jeremiah (xxxi. 31-34) 
who proclaimed for the coming days a 
covenant wliich would guarantee a univer- 
sal knowledge of God, and a complete for- 
giveness. Jesus claims that in and through 
His death this covenant has been estab- 
lished. In the Greek word diaOriH-n, atten- 
tion is directed rather to God as the ar- 



Ch. XI] 



I COEINTHIANS. 



81 



26 For as often as ye eat this bread, 
and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's 
death till he come. 

27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this 
bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, 
unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and 
blood of the Lord. 



28 But let a man examine himself, and 
so let him eat of that bread, and drink of 
that cup. 

29 For he that eateth and drinketh un- 
worthily, eateth and drinketh damnation 
to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 



ranger of it, than to its mutuality. This 
do (take the cup, give thanks, and pass it 
round) continually {pres. imperative), as 
often as ye drink it, in remembrance of 
me. Some, by rendering strictly, as often 
as ye drink, refer the injunction generally, 
to every occasion on which men drank in 
common ; but the scope of the words is 
clearly meant to be limited to the occasions 
on which they met to celebrate the Lord's 
supper. The repetition of the words This 
do, etc., produces a very solemn effect. 
The account in Luke xxii. 17-20 corre- 
sponds more closely than that of Matthew 
xxvi, 26-29 or Mark xiv. 22-25 to the ac- 
count of Paul. It is noteworthy that the 
.words " for you " and " this do in remem- 
brance of me " are peculiar to Paul, and 
are not found in the evangelists (except 
in Luke xxii. 19, 20, where the true text 
appears originally to have stopped at This 
is my body in ver. 19). These words give 
the feast, which is sacramental, a memorial 
character. 

26. The words that follow are appended 
by Paul to the communication he had re- 
ceived from the Lord. He wishes to make 
it abundantly plain that it is the death of 
the Lord that the feast is intended ^o 
commemorate : indirectly this has the effect 
of showing what a travesty of that solemn 
supper the Corinthian celebration was. 
For, as often as ye eat this bread and 
drink the cup, it is nothing less than the 
death of the Lord that ye are declaring. 
The eating and drinking was a rehearsal 
of the original scene, and was therefore in 
itself, in one sense, an acted proclamation : 
it is unnecessary therefore to regard 
KarayyeWeTe as imperative ("proclaim"). 
At the same time, the choice of this word, 
and the analogy of the Passover, whose 
rites the father had to explain to his son 
(Exodus xiii. 8), render it highly probable 
that the ceremony was accompanied by 
some words on the part of the leader. The 
bread and the wine were but symbols : they 
were only necessary until He come — after 
He came in person, they would be super- 
fluous. The date of His coming was un- 
known, but the coming itself was certain: 
this is suggested by the omission of av, 

27-29. If, then, the supper commemo- 



rates the death of the Lord, any violation 
of its spirit must be a peculiarly heinous 
offense. Consequently, any one who eats 
the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord 
unworthily — for example, in the selfish 
and gluttonous manner described in ver. 21 
— shall be guilty of violating the body 
and the blood of the Lord. A statement 
like this lends some countenance to the 
view that, for Paul, the bread and wine 
were very much more than symbols, and 
that in some mystic sense, Christ was 
really present in them. He does not say, 
" Such a one shall be guilty of disobedience 
to a most solemn injunction of the Lord," 
nor even, '' shall be guilty of dishonoring 
His death," but " shall be guilty of His 
body and blood," as if they were in some 
peculiar sense identified with the emblems : 
and the great sin which brings "judgment" 
on a man is his failure to distinguish be- 
tween the holy bread of the supper, which 
is " the body " of Christ, and ordinary bread 
(ver. 29). Such a view ought not to be 
summarily dismissed as impossible, though 
it certainly is not in the spirit of Jesus : 
but there can be no question that, what- 
ever idea underlies the particular expression 
of Paul, his essential meaning is that the 
death of Jesus, with all that that implied, 
was most gravely dishonored by such an 
unseemly celebration as that of which the 
Corinthians had been guilty. The way to 
avoid the guilt of such an offense was the 
way of self-examination. But let a man 
{avOpwTTos is more weighty than eKaaros 
would have been) put himself to the 
proof — test, by earnest consideration, his 
attitude to the supper and to the death of 
the Lord w^hich it commemorates, testing 
himself not. once for all, but every time he 
partakes of it (pres. imperative), and so, 
after such a self-examination, of the bread 
let him eat and of the cup let him drink 
— ■ again the stately repetition which invests 
the narrative with a solemnity of its own. 
For he that eateth and drinketh (the 
iinzvorthily of A. V. is a gloss from ver. 
27) eateth and drinketh judgment to him- 
self, if he does not distinguish the body 
of the Lord, as represented by the food and 
drink of the holy supper, from all other 
food and drink. The rendering of /cpi'/tta 



82 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XI 



30 For this cause many are weak and 
sickly among you, and many sleep. 

31 For if we would judge ourselves, 
we should not be judged. 

32 But when we are judged, we are 
chastened of the Lord, that we should not 
be condemned with the world. 



Z2, Wherefore, my brethren, when ye 
come together to eat, tarry one for an- 
other. 

34 And if any man hunger, let him cat 
at home ; that ye come not together un:o 
condemnation. And the rest will I set 
in order when I come. 



in A. V. by damnation is peculiarly un- 
fortunate; final condemnation, such as that 
which is meted out to the world (ver. 32) 
is the very thing which such judgments as 
are described in the next verse are designed 
to obviate. Still, the warning is serious 
enough; for the "judgment" has already 
fallen, not only in the shape of sickness, 
but of death, upon those who do not -dis- 
cern the body, (the better texts omit tov 
Kvpiov^ of the Lord), that is, upon those 
who make no distinction, do not discrim- 
inate between the holy bread and ordinary 
bread. Roman Catholics have argued 
from the or in ver. 27 (eats the bread or 
drinks the cup: A. V. wrongly and) that 
the partaking of the bread alone, com- 
munion in one kind, is adequate ; but else- 
where throughout the passage the eating 
and the drinking go together (cf. vv. 26, 
28). In any case the argument is falla- 
cious ; it does not follow that, because 
unworthy participation in one element is 
a sin, worthy participation in only one ele- 
ment would be an adequate discharge of 
the two communion obligations, which 
Jesus deliberately coordinated. 

30-32. Some had failed to " discern the 
body " of the Lord, in the sense above 
described : that is why many among you 
are sick and weak and not a few are 
sleeping the sleep of death. This is the 
form that the judgment took (ver. 29), and 
it fell upon a good many. Bousset sug- 
gests that behind this statement lies the 
unconscious feeling that the evil conse- 
quences were directly produced by the un- 
worthy participation in the (miraculous) 
food and drink : this would tend to support 
the view that the Lord was supposed to 
be, in some real though mystical sense, in 
the elements. It is equally in accordance, 
however, with Jewish belief, to regard 
these judgments as being sent, inflicted ex- 
ternally as it were, as a punishment for 
sin. Sleep is used of Christian death (cf. 
vii. 39, I Thes. iv. 13). The sin which 
was thus punished, originated in lack of 
discrimination along two directions ; one 
has just been mentioned (ver. 29), the 
other had been a failure on the part of 
the Christians to distinguish adequately 
between themselves and the world (ver. 



32). Its ideals and its destiny (condemna- 
tion) were different from those of the 
Christian ; the Corinthians had not dis- 
criminated. If they had — or rather, if we 
had, as Paul says, by a courteous inclusion 
— they should not have been suffering as 
they are. Now, if we had been discrim- 
inating ourselves from the world, we 
should not have been suffering from 
these judgments. But after all, these 
judgments, terrible as some of them are, 
are by no means tantamount to a final 
condemnation ; they are discipline, divinely 
designed to purify, and to save from con- 
demnation on the great day of the Lord. 
But when we are thus under judgment, 
it is by the Lord we are being disci- 
plined. These are the two consolations : 
the punishment is discipline, and it comes 
from the Lord (whether God, or Christ, 
whose Supper had been so dishonored). 
The object of the discipline, stern though 
it may be, is that we may not be con- 
demned with the wicked world, in the 
day when the Lord comes in judgment. 

33> 34* Paul sums up the discussion, as 
often, with an exhortation : after the stern 
words of the last few verses, he speaks 
in a gentler tone, calling them his brethren. 
So then, my brethren, when ye come 
together (same word as in vv. 18, 20) 
to eat the Lord's supper, do not selfishly 
and hastil)'' eat what you have brought as 
soon as you arrive — that is, a private sup- 
per, not the Lord's — but wait for one 
another. The true Christian will be pa- 
tient ; and while he will examine himself 
inwardly, he will not forget the seemliness 
and order which ought always to char- 
acterize a Christian assembly (xiv. 40), 
but most of all the celebration of the sup- 
per. In it, he will think of the Lord, 
rather than of the supper , its primary ob- 
ject is to commemorate Him, not to ap- 
pease hunger. Therefore if a man is hun- 
gry, let him dine at home, lest your 
meetings issue in judgment: the sort of 
participation which was common in Cor- 
inth could only end in one way, in the sort 
of judgments that had already befallen the 
church (ver. 30). In this terrible sense, 
they would " meet together for the worse " 
(ver. 17). There are other matters affect- 



Ch. XI] 



I COEIXTHIANS. 



83 



ing public worship and possibly the com- 
munion service, in which Paul has further 
instructions to give ; but the rest I will 
arrange when I may come — he hopes 
to come soon (iv. 19). 



Circumstances have so changed that the 
particular abuses which had crept into the 
celebration of the Lord's supper at Corinth 
are no longer possible to-day : yet Paul's 
warnings are not without their point even 
for us. Every service of the church 
should tend "to the better" (ver. 17), to 
our edification and improvement, and most 
of all the solemn service which commemo- 
rates the death of our Lord. It ought to 



be a communion service, communion with 
Him' and with one another; in Corinth the 
presence of " divisions " (ver. 18) was 
painfully obvious, and never is the divisive 
spirit so lamentable as in that service which 
was designed to unite disciples in com- 
memorating the dying work of their com- 
mon Lord. On every occasion on which 
the Supper is celebrated, therefore, — and 
the implication is that it will not be infre- 
quent (ver. 26) — there is incumbent on 
all who participate the duty of prior self- 
examination (ver. 28) that it may be en- 
tered upon in a spirit of Christian fellow- 
ship and affection towards the other par- 
ticipants, and of humble gratitude towards 
the Lord who gave Himself for us. 



84 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XII 



SPIRITUAL GIFTS (xii-xiv). 



CHAPTER 12. 

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, breth- 
ren, I would not have you ignorant. 

2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, car- 
ried away unto these dumb idols, even as 
ye were led. 



3 Wherefore I give you to understand, 
that no man speaking by the Spirit of 
God calleth Jesus accursed : and that no 
man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but 
by the Holy Ghost. 



After the question of the women's veil 
and the Lord's supper have been disposed 
of, the next phase of public worship to 
claim Paul's attention was that involved 
in the exercise of spiritual gifts. Here, as 
there, there had been unseemliness and dis- 
order. The services had not always tended 
to edification (xiv. 26, cf. xi. 17) ; all 
things had not been done with comeliness 
and order (xiv. 40). The reason was not 
far to seek. The mental and spiritual rev- 
olution which had been created by the new 
religion expressed itself, in the excitable 
Greek temperament, sometimes in vehement 
and impetuous ways, which were not to 
the general advantage (xii, 7). In their 
ecstasy, the new converts would ejaculate 
unintelligible sounds, " speak with tongues," 
as the curious phrase runs (cf.' xiv. 13-16) ; 
sometimes two or three would _ speak at 
once (xiv, 27), and the edification which 
is the end of public worship, would be 
gravely imperilled. Again the great va- 
riety of " spiritual " gifts tended to create 
divisions between the members (xii. 25) ; 
a highly endowed brother would despise 
one of inferior gifts (xii. 21) while those 
of inconspicuous attainments might look 
upon themselves as useless, or be jealous 
of the others. The situation called for a 
wise word from Paul. Whether they had 
consulted him or not, we do not know — 
probably they had; but he clearly intends 
this discussion of spiritual gifts to form 
one of the great divisions of his letter 
(for irepl dk at the beginning, cf. vii. I, 
25, viii. i). 



The Test of Possession by the Spirit of 
God (xii. 1-3). 

I. Now concerning spiritual gifts 

(rather than persons, xiv. 37) brethren, 
I do not wish you to be ignorant. 
Knowledge pn this point might very easily 
be obscure or confused. Spirit-possession 
was a frequent phenomenon in Jewish 



and heathen religion ; mighty words might 
be spoken and mighty works done by 
persons under certain spiritual infiuences: 
the question was, how could it be deter- 
mined whether the spirit that inspired them 
was divine or diabolic? Jesus' own works 
were attributed by the scribes to Beelzebub 
(Mark iii. 22). How were phenomena so 
similar to be distinguished? This point 
Paul wishes to clear up for the Corin- 
thians. 

2, 3. You know — again the familiar 
appeal to their knowledge — that when 
you were heathen, you (were: apparently 
we have to supply vre with d-n-ayo/jLevot) 
led away to idols that, unlike the living 
God, had no voice, according as you 
might, on each occasion (impf. tense) 
happen to be led. There was a sharp 
bre'ach between their former and their 
present life : then they were heathen, now 
they are Christian. The idols which they 
then worshipped and consulted were dumb 
(Ps. cxv. 7), the oracles given in their 
name were often obscure, useless, and con- 
tradictory, and the powers which were sup- 
posed to stand behind them were demonic, 
not divine. That is why I make known, 
to you that no one speaking in the power 
and undci- the inllucnce of the spirit of 
GOD says, " Cursed be Jesus," and no 
one can say "Jesus is Lord," unless in 
the holy spirit, that is, the spirit of God. 
The true test, then, of a man's possession 
by the spirit of God is his attitude to 
Jesus : here again we see how intimately, 
for Paul, Jesus is involved in the idea of 
God. It would hardly be in a Christian 
assembly that any one could cry out, " Jesus 
be anathema ;" this cry must have been 
heathen or Jewish. There were many 
ways in which the spirit was supposed to 
manifest itself — among others, in ecstatic, 
unintelligible speech ; the supreme test of 
true spirit-possession, however, was not 
this, but humble submission to the au- 
thority of Christ and intelligent confession 
of Him as Lord (cf. Mark ix. 38 f.). 



Ch. XII] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



85 



4 Now there are diversities of gifts, 
but the same Spirit. 

5 And there are differences of admin- 
istrations, but the same Lord. 

6 And there are diversities of opera- 
tions, but it is the same God which work- 
eth all in all. 

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is 
given to every man to profit withal. 

8 For to one is given by the Spirit the 



word of wisdom ; to another the word of 
knowledge by the same Spirit; 

9 To another faith by the same Spirit ; 
to another the gifts of healing by the 
same Spirit; 

10 To another the working of miracles ; 
to another prophecy ; to another discern- 
ing of spirits ; to another divers kinds of 
tongues ; to another the interpretation of 
tongues : 



Spiritual Gifts Many and Varied, But One 
in Source and Purpose (xii. 4-11). 

. 4-7. The supreme test of spiritual pos- 
session has just been mentioned. There 
are, however, divisions (rather than dif- 
ferences: cf. the participle in ver. 11) of 
spiritual endowments, but the same 
spirit; and there are divisions of minis- 
trations, but the same Lord; and there 
are divisions of activities but the same 
God, inspiring all these activities in all 
the different types of Christians (vv. 4-6). 
The Trinitarian conception seems to shine 
through this statement, cf. 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 
The endowments, the ministrations, and 
the activities, are the same thing conceived 
from different points of view. The endow- 
ments are gifts of the spirit, which take 
the form of service (of many kinds: plu.) 
prescribed by and rendered to the Lord 
(that is, Christ), and which are, from 
another point of view, expressions of an 
immanent divine activity. As it worked in 
all, even in the least gifted, there should 
be no room for jealousy; just as, even 
in the most gifted, there should be no 
room for pride, for it is God that worketh. 
But to each, to^ the least as well as to 
the greatest, is given continuously (pres.) 
the manifestation of the spirit, which ex- 
presses itself in some way through every 
Christian personality; but this manifesta- 
tion is with a view to that which is 
profitable, not so much to the individual 
himself as to the whole body of which he 
is a member, the church (xiv. 12, 26). 
Great gifts are not to be a source of pride 
to their possessor, but of profit to the 
church. 

8-10. Paul now proceeds to enumerate 
the ways in which the spirit manifests it- 
self to the advantage of the church. For 
to one through the spirit is given 
the word of wisdom, and to another the 
word of knowledge according to the 
same spirit; to a man of another type 
faith, moving in the sphere of and in the 
power of the same spirit, and to another 
gifts of healing of various kinds (lafidTwp^ 



plu.) in and by means of the one spirit, 
and to another mighty miraculous activi- 
ties, and to another prophecy, and to 
another power to distinguish the various 
spirits; to a man of another type, various 
kinds of tongues, and to another inter- 
pretation of tongues (vv. 8-10). These 
verses afford us a very interesting glimpse 
into the multifarious activity of the Corin- 
thian church. The question may be raised 
whether there is any kind of order in this 
list. A similar list of spiritual endow- 
ments occurs in ver. 28 ; but that list, with 
its iirst, second, third, then, then, is clearly 
intended to suggest order of importance. 
Common to both lists is the placing of the 
" tongues," at the end, and there can be 
little doubt that that is significant of Paul's 
real opinion. The Corinthians made much 
of it ; Paul hints that its real place is last, 
not first. In deciding whether any delib- 
erate order is observed in vv. 8-10, the 
presence of erepoj (without 5e)^ twice in 
the midst of so many repetitions of aX\w 8e 
has to be taken into account. It is pos- 
sible that the change was made simply for 
variety's sake; but it is just as probable 
that it has a deeper meaning, especially 
when we note that each ere'pw (a man of 
another kind) does really introduce a 
group that differs perceptibly from the 
others. The case has been well put by Pro- 
fessor Findlaj^ 'The nine (gifts) thus fell 
into three divisions, of two, five, and two 
members respectively, with X070S, TriVris, 
y\(I)aaai. [speech, faith, tongues] for their 
titles, the first of which exhibits the Spirit 
working through the intelligence, the sec- 
ond in distinction from the intelligence, 
and the third in supersession of the intel- 
ligence," cf. xiii. 8. Considering the em- 
phasis placed by Paul earlier in the epistle 
on Christian wisdom, it is natural to find 
it in the first place here. The distinction 
between zcisdoni and knozi'ledge probably 
is that the former is insight into the 
deep purpose of God as embodied in Christ, 
the latter is the intellectual apprehension 
of this. Of a different type is the group 
in which faith predominates. As faith is 



86 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XII 



11 But all these worketh that one ^nd 
the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man 
severally as he will. 

12 For 'as the body is one, and hath 
many members, and all the members of 
that one body, being many, are one body : 
so also is Christ. 



13 For by one Spirit are we all bap- 
tized unto one body, whether zee be Jews 
or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; 
and have been all made to drink into one 

Spirit. 



indispensable, whatever be a man's religious 
type (cf. Heb. xi. 6) and is especially so 
regarded by Paul, it may seem strange to 
have it thus put in a category by itself: 
but the context makes it clear that the 
faith here intended is not that which jus- 
tifies, but that which enables a man to do 
mighty things (cf. Mat. xvii. 20). It may 
take the specific form of power to heal 
disease, or it may be power of a broader 
and more general kind. In the sphere of 
speech, it works ar^ prophecy. The New 
Testament prophet is one who could speak 
with enthusiasm, intelligence, and power, 
able to bring his truth mightily home to 
the conscience and to carry conviction to 
unbelievers (xiv. 24!). There were fur- 
ther, as we have seen (cf. vv. 1-3) many 
kinds of spirit-possession ; and another of 
the gifts here mentioned was the poiver to 
distinguish the different spirits, whether 
their source was divine or demonic. 

The last group includes tongues and their 
interpretation. Whatever may be the case 
in Acts ii, there is no reason to suppose 
that the reference here is to the power 
to speak in foreign languages. In xiv. 10 f. 
speaking with tongues is compared to 
speaking in a foreign language, and there- 
fore must itself have been something dif- 
ferent ; nor in the reference to the house- 
hold of Cornelius (Acts x. 46) or the 
disciples at Ephesus (Acts xix. 6) is there 
any necessity for, or propriety in, such an 
interpretation. All the references to speak- 
ing w^ith tongues in i Cor. xiv. go to show 
that it was an ecstatic utterance of unin- 
telligible sounds, which the speaker him- 
self might (xiv. 5, 13) or might not be 
able to interpret (xiv. 13) : the pozcer to 
interpret the tongues was a gift of the 
spirit. It has been suggested that the 
strange and unintelligible utterances to 
which men were moved under the in- 
fluence of the new religion, may have been 
regarded as celestial speech : this view is 
perhaps supported by xiii. i, " Though I 
speak with the tongues of angels." But 
to Paul so sensational a gift is fraught 
with much danger, and little profit, to the 
church, and twice he deliberately puts it 
last (vv. ID, 28). 

II. The gifts, then, are many ; but the 



spirit which they manifest (ver. 7) and by 
which they are inspired, is one and the 
same. This point, which has already been 
incidentally made in vv. 8, 9 (where the 
gifts are through, in accordance zvith, in 
the one spirit) is pointedly stated in the 
conclusion. In all these manifestations, it 
is the one and the same spirit that is 
active, dividing to each severally as He 
will. If all the gifts alike have one source, 
pride and jealousy alike are out of the 
question. The spirit distributes an appro- 
priate gift to each, rtiissing none : the spirit 
of the whole is bound to manfest itself in 
each member (ver. 7), He does this indeed 
as He zvill, but that does not mean capri- 
ciously: He respects the capacities of each, 
dealing with each separately, privately 



The Church is a Body With Members (xii. 
12-31). 

The one spirit with its many and varied 
manifestations suggests to Paul the idea 
of the body with its many members, and 
this thought he applies to the idea of the 
church, whose various members, like those 
of the body, should work in harmony, each 
contentedly in its place and contributing to 
the welfare of the whole. 

12, 13. For, as the body is one, and 
has many members, and ALL the mem- 
bers of the body, many as they are, con- 
stitute ONE body, so also is — not. as we 
should expect, the church, but — Christ, 
regarded as the personality whose life is 
in each and all of the members, and who 
therefore constitutes their unity. It takes 
all the members together to make the one 
body. For, as a matter of fact ('^'at). ALL 
of us were, in and under the influence of 
ONE spirit, baptized and thus incorpo- 
rated into ONE body, whether Jews or 
Greeks, slaves or free men, and we were 
thus ALL, by our ba])tism — not. as some 
suppose, though the Lord's supper — made 
to drink of ONE spirit. The slave is a 
memlicr, a limb, of this body, no less than 
the free man, the Greek no less than the 
Jew. Each member is z'itally related to the 
whole, and therefore from this point of 



Ch. XII] 



I COEINTHIANS. 



87 



14 For the body is not one member, but 
many. 

15 If the foot shall say, Because I am 
not the hand, I am not of the body; is it 
therefore not of the body? 

16 And if the ear shall say, Because I 
am not the eye, I am not of the body; is 
it therefore not of the body? 

17 If the whole body zvcre an eye, 
where were the hearing? If the whole 
were hearing, where zvere the smelling? 

18 But now hath God set the memlDers 
every one of them in the body, as it hath 
pleased him. 

19 And if they were all one member, 
where were the body? 



20 But now are they many members, 
yet but one body. 

21 And the eye cannot say unto the 
hand, I have no need of thee : nor again 
the head to the feet, I have no need of 
you. 

22 Nay, much more those members of 
the body, which seem to be more feeble, 
are necessary : 

23 And those members of the body, 
which we think to be less honourable, upon 
these we bestow more abundant honour ; 
and our uncomely parts have more abund- 
ant comeliness. 

24 For our comely parts have no need : 
but God hath tempered the body together, 



view — and this is the one of supreme im- 
portance — distinctions which may exist 
between the members (cf. ver. 28) simply 
do not count. Note the importance as- 
cribed to baptism. its connection with the 

spirit, and its function as incorporating into 
the body of Christ. 

14-17. For indeed the body is not one 
member, but many. All are necessary, 
the slaves, the feebly gifted; and the with- 
drawal of one would be the injury of 
all. If, for example, the foot should say, 
under the impression that it was a rel- 
atively unimportant member, " Because I 
am not a hand, I am not of the body," 
that nevertheless does not keep it from 
being a member of the body. This is 
more in accordance with the grammar {ov^ 
not /W17), than to take these words as a 
question. Similarly, if the ear, in a pet- 
ulani and jealous mood, should say, "Be- 
cause I am not an eye, I am not o£ 
the body," that does not keep it from 
being a member of the body (ver. j6). 
Whatever these members may say, they do 
belong to the body, and they are indispen- 
sable to its completeness. A man must be 
able to handle and see, but he needs also 
to be able to walk and to hear : conse- 
quently any discontentment with our gifts 
or our function is out of place ; it may be 
humble, but it is necessary. The church, 
like the human body, needs in her mem- 
bers number and variety : whether in the 
church or in the body, if all had the same 
function, the result would be a useless 
monstrosity. If the body were altogether 
eye, where would the hearing be? If 
altogether hearing, where would the 
smelling be? (ver. 17). A glance at this 
hideous picture of a body which was all 
eye or all ear, shows how earnest Paul is 
to teach that all the members are necessary. 



That is the divine order of things (0 Geo? 
edero^ ver. 18). 

18-20. But, as it is, God has, in ac- 
cordance with His " original and primal 
constitution of things" (Ellicott: aor. 
ei9eTo), set the members, not simply a few 
of unique importance, but EVERY SIN- 
GLE ONE of them, in the body, as He 
wished — not capriciously but with separate 
I regard to the particular function each had 
1 to fulfil (ver. 11). Now if they were all 
one member, where would the body be? 
One member cannot make a body. But, as 
it is, there are many members, but one 
body. Variety is indispensable ; but it is 
controlled and coordinated by a unity. 

21-24. For men of inconspicuous gifts, 
the argument just led must have had the 
effect of a consolation ; now it turns, by 
implication, to men of more striking gifts, 
and rebukes their pride. The eye, one of 
the most marvelous and noble organs of 
the body, might, for example, be tempted 
to despise some other organ, but it cannot. 
It cannot say, for instance, to the hand, 
" I don't need you," nor again can the 
head, splendid and commanding as it is, 
say to the feet, " I don't need you." The 
work of the body cannot be done by eye 
and head alone ; without hands and feet 
how impotent would it be. For one mem- 
ber of the body to say to another, / have 
no need of thee, would-be foolish, inasmuch 
as no member has any independent life of 
its own : its only meaning and value are 
in a body, and that body is served by all 
its members. So must it be in the church : 
each needs every other. Nay, but much 
rather the seemingly feebler members 
of the body — whether he means such 
organs as the heart and lungs, or the 
organs alluded to by to. daxvf^opa in ver. 
23, it is impossible to say — are necessary 



88 



I COKINTHIANS. 



[Ch. xn 



having given more abundant honour to 
that part which lacked : 

25 That there should be no schism in 
the body; but that the members should 
have the same care one for another. 

26 And whether one member suffer, all 
the members suffer with it; or one mem- 
ber be honoured, all the members rejoice 
with it. 



27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and 
members in particular. 

28 And God hath set some in the 
church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, 
thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then 
gifts of healings, helps, governments, di- 
versities of tongues. 



(ver. 22). What an inspiration to the 
weak member to learn that he is not only 
tolerated, but necessary! and what a rebuke 
to the strong to be reminded that, as in 
the body so in the church, the weaker 
member is not only not to be despised, but is 
worthy of special attention and honor ! 
And the members of the body which 
we fancy to be relatively less honorable, 
we invest with more abundant honor by 
amply clothing them, and our uncomely 
private members similarly enjoy by cloth- 
ing, a more abundant comeliness, while 
our comely members have no need (ver. 
24). Possibly all these adjectives describe 
the same organs under different points of 
view, as being necessary, less honorable, 
and uncomely, daxvf^ova is well illustrated 
by daxv/^ocrvvT] (shame) in Rev. xvi. 15. 

24-27. Strictly speaking, every member 
of the body, as it fulfils a necessary func- 
tion (ver. 22) is honorable, and the epithets 
uncomely and unhonored are misnomers ; 
for the whole body is a wonderful har- 
mony created by God Himself. Nay, but 
God tempered the whole body together, 
giving to the member that suffered lack 
an honor that was more abundant (in 
the sense explained in ver. 23), that there 
should be no division {schism) in the 
body, but rather that the members should 
<:ontinually (pres., not aorist) exercise the 
same care over one another (vv. 24, 25). 
The word schism (ver. 25) is, in a sense, 
the key to the whole chapter. The Corin- 
thians were by instinct, too, prone to 
schism (i. 10), it entered into their com- 
munion service (xi. 18), it was even fos- 
tered by the very gifts which should have 
benefited the church (xii. 7). The effect 
within the church was the same as would 
have been that within the body had the 
<;ye despised the hand, or the foot, in mis- 
taken humility, refused to do its work. 
The members must so intimately and com- 
pletely care for one another that any ex- 
perience of any member must be instantly 
and inwardly shared by every other. And 
if one member suffers, all the other 
members must do more than sympathize : 
this is the English word that transliterates 



the Greek word used here — avvvdax^i; but 
the passage helps us to feel how far our 
sympathy has traveled from its original 
meaning. Now it is little more than a 
sort of external commiseration : the m'ean- 
ing here is that the other members not 
merely are sorry for, but actually suffer 
with the afflicted member. This is true 
enough of the physical organism — a pain 
in one part may cause the whole body to 
writhe — but how rare is such sympathy in 
human fellowship; and just as rare, if not 
more rare, is the other, where, if one 
member is honored, all the other mem- 
bers not merely offer congratulations, but 
actually rejoice with the recipient of the 
honor. These statements of sympathy be- 
tween the members refer, of course, pri- 
marily to the body ; but Paul is thinking 
of that other body, whose schism-loving 
members still so little understand their 
function. Now YE (vfiels, emphatic) are 
the body of Christ and members, each 
with his allotted part. 

28. The special parts allotted to the va- 
rious members are now described in order 
of importance ; and this allotment, like 
that of the members of the physical body 
(ver. 18) is divineh' ordained (eders in 
both cases). And some — probably Paul 
meant to continue with and others, but he 
changes the construction to tirst, second, etc. 
— God appointed in the church for its 
profit (ver. 7) first apostles, though in 
another sense, judging by their sorrowful 
careers, it seemed if God bad appointed 
them to be last (iv. 9). The apostles, here 
used not in its general sense of envoys, 
but in its highest sense, come first as '* the 
witnesses of the living Christ, and the 
founders of churches" (Massie), cf. ix. 
I, 2 for some of the qualifications of an 
apostle. Second, prophets (cf. ver. 10) 
who proclaimed the truth in an inspiring 
and enthusiastic way, in distinction to 
third, teachers who temperately developed 
the truth rather in a way that appealed to 
the intellect. Then follows a series of 
offices described in abstract terms, sug- 
gesting that these gifts were not yet so 
definitely associated with particular per- 



Ch. XII] 



I COEINTHIANS. 



89 



29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? 
are all teachers? are all workers of 
miracles? 

30 Have all the gifts of healing? do 



all speak with tongues? do all interpret? 
31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: 
and yet shew I unto you a more excellent 
way. 



sons as the three already mentioned. Mi- 
raculous powers, then, gifts of healing 

(plu. : cf. ver. 9) helps of a more general 
kind (in Acts xx. 35, the corresponding 
verb avTiXafj-ISdveaGai, is used of helping the 
sick, and brought into connection with the 
word of Jesus that " it is more blessed to 
give than to receive"), governments, skill 
in directing or piloting the church, a skill 
which later crystallized into the office of 
elder or bishop, just as the "helps" may 
have been the prototypes of the deacons ; 
and last here, as in the previous list (ver. 
10) kinds of tongues. 

29-313. Paul concludes : all these gifts 
and types are necessary. One member does 
not make a body (ver. 19), nor does one 
type of spiritual gift make a church : in it 
the apostles find their place, so also those 
who speak with tongues, humble though 
their gift may be. The following rhetorical 
questions are, as is natural enough, not an 
exact repetition of the gifts just mentioned. 
Are ALL apostles? are ALL prophets? 
are ALL teachers? are ALL miracle- 
workers? (or less probably, have all mirac- 
ulous powers, reading the following €xov<nv 
back), have ALL gifts of healing? do 
ALL speak with tongues? do ALL inter- 
pret? All these types are necessary; yet he 
has just hinted in his -first, second, etc., that 
they are not all of equal importance. Some 
are greater than others — teaching, for ex- 
ample, greater than tongues (cf. xiv. 19, 
23) ; therefore he advises them to covet 
steadily and continuously (pres. imper.) the 
GREATER gifts. The fact that God has 
assigned every member his place with re- 
gard to his capacity (cf. ver. 18) is not 
meant to be a curb upon aspiration. 



The modern church must differ widely 
from the church of Corinth : we have little 
that corresponds to gifts of healing, and 
nothing to the gift of tongues. Yet there 
are great principles dominating the dis- 
cussion in this chapter, whose applicability 
to the church of Christ will never be ex- 
hausted. The conception of the church as 
a body with members is apprehended only 
very remotely in theory, and hardly at all 
in practice, by the average Christian church. 
The technical sense of the phrase church 
member has blinded us to the fact that 
one who bears this name ought to be a 



limb of his church ; without the service 
which he is fitted to render, the church is 
incomplete. Every member ought to per- 
form his function — otherwise he impov- 
erishes the life of the church — and his 
function is determined by his capacity. 
This obligation rests upon every member ; 
Paul suggestively says, " Those which 
seem relatively feeble, are necessa}'y." 
This ought to be at once a consolation and 
an inspiration to those of slender gifts. 
The church needs and can assimilate every 
variety, and every contribution tells. 

And just as the mistaken humility of 
those who are less gifted is injurious to the 
church, still more is the pride of those who 
are more gifted. The most fatal schism 
(ver. 25) that can be introduced into any 
church is created by the spirit which says, 
" I have no need of thee." To begin with, 
that is not true. Each needs every other, 
and " the weak are necessary." But, apart 
from that, the really Christian question is 
not whether I have need of others, but 
whether they have need of me. The gifts 
of the mind and spirit are given, not to 
be selfishly hoarded, but to be used to the 
advantage of the church (ver. 7). There 
is room and need in the church for the 
best that we have and know and can do. 
But penetrating the various activities of 
all her sons, should be manifest their unity 
of spirit. 

It is not without interest that Paul puts 
the speaking with tonguQs last : he does so 
twice, and we must suppose that he does 
so deliberately. This was the most sen- 
sational gift — probably the Corinthians 
were particularly proud of it (it has the 
first place in xiii. i), and some of them 
may have hardly considered a person a 
Christian who did not possess it — but the 
proper place for it is at the bottom. It 
was as a rule more exciting and confusing 
than edifying, and it was a long remove 
from prophecy and teaching. The signifi- 
cance of this for the modern church is 
obvious. 



The Hymn in Praise of Love (xiii.). 

This wonderful hymn in praise of love 
has for its background the disorder of the 
Corinthian church. It was a gifted church, 
but gifts without love are nothing. This 



90 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XIII 



CHAPTER 13. 

1 Though I speak with the tongues of 
men and of angels, and liave not charity, 
I am become as sounding brass, or a tink- 
ling cymbal. 

2 And though I have the gift of 
prophecy, and understand all mysteries, 



and all knowledge; and though I have all 
faith, so that I could remove mountains, 
and have not charity, I am nothing. 

3 And though I bestow all my goods to 
feed the poor, and though I give my body 
to be burned, and have not charity, it 
profitcth me nothing. 



is the truth that Paul wishes to bring 
home to its members, torn as they were 
with the spirit of jealousy, pride, and 
schism (xiv. 25) ; but, as so often, else- 
where in his writings (cf. Rom. viii. 31 ff.) 
he is lifted by a turn of his argument, or 
by a sudden emotion of his heart, into a 
higher and serener sphere, and out of the 
depths there rises a strain of the purest 
poetry, in which controversy and admoni- 
tion are alike forgotten, and we are per- 
mitted to gaze, with undistracted eye, upon 
the beautiful visions that filled his soul. 

xii. 31b. The eulogy of love is intro- 
duced by a statement : and besides the 
exhortation I have just given you to covet 
the greater gifts, I point out to you a 
way of exceeding excellence. The love, 
upon which the chapter insists, is not 
here regarded as a gift, more excellent 
than the gifts he has just enumerated, 
and some of which he has by implication 
specially recommended (xii. 28-31) ; it is 
a way, in which these gifts are to be ex- 
ercised. 

xiii. I. Yet the apostle does not at once 
describe the way itself : he begins by show- 
ing its indefeasible necessity. If I speak 
with the tongues of men, yes, even of 
angels, and have not LOVE, I am be- 
come for the want of love a sounding 
brass or a clanging cymbal. The tongues 
of men have sometimes been interpreted as 
foreign languages ; but it is better to preserve 
the meaning which the phrase undoubtedly 
has in xii. and xiv. of ecstatic, unintelligible 
utterances to which the speakers were im- 
pelled under the influence of the spirit. 
The speech of angels in paradise, as a stage 
beyond the ecstatic speech of men, would 
naturally also be unintelligible to mortal 
men (cf. 2 Cor. xii. 4) under normal con- 
ditions (cf. note on xii. 10) ; but the power 
to speak thus ecstatically was apparently 
regarded by the sensation-loving Corin- 
thians as the noblest endowment of the 
spirit, and therefore perhaps put here first 
by Paul. But, if the man thus gifted be 
destitute of love — the word is sprung sud- 
denly and with great effect upon the reader, 
fresh from the discussion of the gifts in 
ch. xii. where it is not mentioned — he is 



no better than a soulless brass instrument, 
that gives forth loud, confused and sense- 
less sounds when it is beaten. Here, as 
in xii. 10, 28, we see Paul's real opinion 
of the tongues : though he had the gift him- 
self (xiv. 18) he did not think it of much 
importance, and the words of xiii. i look 
like a criticism of its essential inanity, at 
least unless the tongues were interpreted 
in love (xiv. 5). With his usual courtesy 
(cf. xi. 32) Paul assumes the case of 
deficiency in love to be his own. 

2, 3. And if I have prophecy, that 
inspiration which enables a man to present 
Christian truth with authority and enthu- 
siasm (cf. xii. 10), and if, in addition, I 
know the mysteries of the Christian rev- 
elation, every one of them (Trdj^ra, em- 
phatic), and if I have all the (t-V) range 
of knowledge — if, that is, besides being 
a powerful and gifted speaker, I have not 
merely an intuition of Christian truth, but 
a well-articulated apprehension of it — ; 
yes, and if I have all the wonder-working 
faith spoken of by Jesus (]\Iat. xvii. 20, 
xxi. 21) so as to remove mountains, not 
one or once for all (aorist), but one after 
the other (present, fiedL<jTdi>€Lv : mighty faith 
in repeated operation) : if I have prophecy, 
knowledge, and faith, and have not LOVE, 
I am nothing — not little, but nothing. He 
may accomplish much, but he is nothing 
(Mat. vii. 22, 23). Besides men with the 
gifts of prophecy and faith, there were also 
in the church of Corinth "helps" (xii. 28) : 
among these may have been some who, in 
a loveless fashion, gave doles to the poor. 
And if I dole out (as in morsels or 
crumbs) all my substance to the needy, 
and if I even go further, abandoning not 
projxTty, but lite itself, and give up my 
body to be burned like the three Hebrew 
children (Dan. iii. 19 f.), and have not 
LOVE, I am not a whit benefited. What 
ever he may have hoped to gain by his 
loveless sacrifice, he actually gains nothing. 
An interesting alternative reading to 
Kavdrfaofxat (or (^fiai) is /\ai'X'»70'WMat. tJiat I 
may boast; but boasting, as the definite aim 
of sacrifice, seems rather inappropriate 
here, and the phrase to gi-ve up my body 
needs amplification, though it might be de- 



Ch. XIII] 



I COEINTHIANS. 



91 



4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; 
charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not 
itself, is not puffed up. 

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, 
seeketh not her own, is not easily pro- 
voked, thinketh no evil ; 

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but re- 
joiceth in the truth; 

7 Beareth all things, believeth all 
things, hopeth all things, endureth all 
things. 

8 Charity never faileth ; but whether 
there be prophecies, they shall fail : 
whether there be tongues, they shall cease; 



whether there be knowledge, it shall van- 
ish away. 

9 For we know in part, and we pro- 
phesy in part. 

10 But when that which is perfect is 
come, then that which is in part shall be 
done away. 

11 When I was a child, I spake as a 
child, I understood as a child, I thought as 
a child : but when I became a man, I 
put away childish things. 

12 For now we see through a glass, 
darkly ; but then face to face : now I know 
in part ; but then shall I know even as 
also I am known. 



fended by TrapeSt'Sero in xi. 23. Without 
love, whatever gifts a man has or sacrifices 
he makes, he is nothing and gains nothing. 
But what is love? 

In 4-7 Paul defines love by showing 
positively how it behaves, and negatively, 
how it does not behave. Negatively love is 
slow to anger, of patient temper ; positively, 
she is kind. The negative aspect is de- 
veloped at length. Love is not envious 

]or jealous of others whose gifts are more 
brilliant ; such envy is unlovely, though 
there is another envy (not of persons, but 
of things) which is commendable (xii. 31). 

j Love does not play the braggart, is not 

f puffed up, does not behave unseemly, 
commits no breach of moral propriety, 
does not selfishly seek the things that 
are her own, but considers, like Paul him- 
self (x. $3), the good of others; and, as 
she has no selfish interests to serve, she 
does not let herself be provoked. She 
is often injured, but she takes no account 
of the (to) wrong done her, all these 
negative statements are excellently sum- 

, marized in the sentence, she has no joy 
in iniquity — the sight of wrong, whatever 
be its nature, vexes her — but she rejoices 
with the truth — truth in general, in par- 
ticular Christian truth, here personified. 
When the truth is triumphant, love is glad. 
The four brief sentences stating positively 
what love does, are splendidly comprehen- 
sive, each beginning with an emphatic 
TTCLVTa, ALL things she bears (rather than 
covers) in the sense of tolerates, ALL 
things she believes, ALL things she hopes, 
ALL things she endures: there is nothing 
which she will not bear, believe, hope, 
endure. Her life is a struggle against hos- 
tile influences, but love is ever true to 
her nature : with everything to disappoint 
her, she will believe and hope the best 
and endure the most : love is that which 
inspires tolerance, faith (in man), hope, 



and endurance The rhythmical nature of 
these sentences lifts them to the dignity 
of a prose poem, to which the absence of 
connecting particles, and the repetition of 
7] dydirr] in ver, 4 and of Travra in ver. 7 
add a certain solemnity. 

8-10. Verses 8-13 describe, in similarly 
rhythmical terms, the abiding nature of 
love. Love never at any time falls, " but 
ever remains steadfast, unshaken and un- 
moved, abiding for ever" (Theod.) ; and in 
this she offers a striking contrast to the 
gifts, so often already alluded to, of 
prophecy, tongues, and knowledge, which, 
however they may edify the church, are 
only temporary. But whether there be 
prophecies, they shall be done away; or 
tongues, they shall stop; or knowledge, 
it shall be done away; for the reason that 
our knowledge is but partial, and our 
prophecy is partial — significantly enough, 
the tongues are omitted — but when the 
perfect is come, the partial shall be done 
away. Paul is apparently referring to the 
coming of Christ, the great hope of the 
church, when aspiration would be fulfilled. 
That coming ushered in the perfect age, 
and everything preparatory to it Vv-as nec- 
essarily partial and incomplete. Prophecy 
was only valid until then ; and our present 
knowledge would give place to perfect 
knowledge (ver. 12). 

II, 12. Paul illustrates the temporary 
nature of these gifts of the church by the 
analogy of childhood : when that age is 
surmounted, its interests and activities are 
transcended. When I was a child, my 
speech was a child's (there is here just 
the suspicion of an allusion to the speak- 
ing with tongues), my mind was a child's, 
my reasoning a child's; but now that I 
have become a man, I have done away 
with the things of the child, and for me 
they are permanently abolished {KarijpyqKa^ 
perf.). So the church, in the present age. 



92 



I COlilNTHIANS. 



[Ch. XIV 



13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, 
these three ; but the greatest of these is 
charity. 

CHAPTER 14. 

I Follow after charity, and desire 
spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may 
prophesy. 



2 For he that speaketh in an unknown 
tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto 
God: for no man understandeth him; how- 
beit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. 

3 But he that prophesieth speaketh 
unto men to edification, and exhortation, 
and comfort. 



is in its minority, and its gifts are suitable 
to its condition ; but, in the age to come, 
she wnll have attained, and the ways and 
the helps of her childhood will be left for 
ever behind. There is a great contrast be- 
tween the now, with its partial states, and 
the then with its perfection (ver. 10). 
For NOW we see through (or by means 
of) a mirror, the metallic mirror of the 
ancients, which did not reflect well ; this 
fact illustrates the ^p ahiy/Man, in a riddle, 
probably in a baMing way, without clear- 
ness or sharpness of outline : the phrase is 
almost certainly suggested by the descrip- 
tion of Moses in Num. xii. 8 where the 
Septuagint uses the same word (A. R. V. 
"in dark speeches''). The "seeing" re- 
ferred to is, as the context suggests, more 
particularly the union of God. But THEN, 
when Christ comes, our face will be turned 
directly to God's face, and our knowledge 
of Him will be immediate, which is iin- 
possible now: for now my knowledge is 
gradual {-ckw) and partial, but then I 
shall know God well, even as I was also 
well known of Him, on the ever-memora- 
ble day of my conversion to Christ (cf. 
viii. 3). 

13. The difference between the partial 
and the perfect has been amply illustrated 
by the figures of the child and the mirror. 
Certain things pass — tongues, prophecy, 
etc.: but, as it is, there ABIDES — not 
merely in this world, but for ever — faith, 
hope, love, THESE three (cf. i Thes. i. 3) 
not the other three (prophecy, tongues, 
knowledge, ver. 8). Faith and hope seem 
more appropriate to this world, but they, 
too, share the abiding destiny of love : 
faith as trust in God, and hope as ex- 
pectancy of blessedness to come. But the 
greatest of these is love, because love is 
the ground and inspiration of the other 
two, love believcth and hopeth (ver. 7). 



The lesson enforced with such beauty 
and eloquence throughout this chapter is 
one which the church and the individual 
need to be ever learning "by heart" — that 
endowments and service uninspired by love 



have no moral value ; that however elo- 
quent, learned, or charitable a man may 
be, if love be not the soul of his action, 
he is a moral nonentity (ver. 2) ; that, 
without love, he has no part in the eternal 
order. 



Prophecy Better Than Speaking With ■ 
Tongues (xiv. 1-25). 

The discussion of spiritual endowments 
which was interrupted, or rather illumi- 
nated, by the beautiful panegyric on love, 
is here resumed, and the hint in xii. 28, 
that the endowments vary in importance, 
is here developed, with special reference 
to the gifts of prophecy and speaking with 
tongues. The chapter gives us a glimpse 
into a Corinthian service of public wor- 
ship, which was so very different from 
our own. The point upon which Paul 
strenuously insists throughout this _ para- 
graph is that, as its general aim is the 
edification of the church, its various parts 
have value according as they contribute to 
that aim. Prophecy is, from this point of 
view, more valuable than speaking with 
tongues, as it contributes more. 

1-3. The chapter links simply and nat- 
urally with the last. Pursue love — the 
love described in ch. xiii. This is not a 
separate gift, but the spirit in which all 
the various gifts of the church members 
are to be exercised. Pursue — a far more 
earnest word than simply " follow after " 
(cf. Ps. xxiii. 6). This pursuit of love did 
not supersede the necessity for the gifts, 
for Paul says again, as he had said be- 
fore (xii. 31) that these were to be cov- 
eted — in a good sense, of course: for, in 
the bad sense, loz'C does not covet (xiii. 
4) — but at the same time covet the 
spiritual (gifts), all the gifts mentioned in 
xii. 8-10, but more than any other, that 
ye may prophesy: he does not mean, 
" covet spiritual gifts in order that you 
may prophesy," but " covet most of all the 
gift of prophecy." This emphasis on 
prophecy at the very beginning of the dis- 
cussion, is striking, and significant of 



Ch. XIV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



93 



4 He that speaketh in an unknozcn 
tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophe- 
sieth edifieth the church. 

5 I would that ye all spake with 
tongues, but rather that ye prophesied : 
for greater is he that prophesieth than he 
that speaketh with tongues, except he in- 
terpret, that the church may receive edify- 
ing. 

6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you 
speaking with tongues, what shall I profit 
you, except I shall speak to you either 



by revelation, or by knowledge, or by 
prophesying, or by doctrine? 

7 And even things without life giving 
sound, whether pipe or harp, except they 
give a distinction in the sounds, how shall 
it be known what is piped or harped? 

8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain 
sound, who shall prepare himself to the 
battle? 

9 So likewise ye, except 3'e utter by 
the tongue words easy to be understood, 
how shall it be known what is spoken? 
for ye shall speak into the air. 



Paul's high estimate of it : it prepares us 
to gather all the hints that the chapter 
offers as to the nature of New Testament 
prophecy. In point of fact, throughout the 
discussion, the only other spiritual gift 
with which prophecy is compared and con- 
trasted is the gift of tongues. The rea- 
son for the injunction to covet prophecy 
most of all, especially more than tongues, 
is at once given: For he that speaks 
with a tongue does not speak to men 
— for nobody understands (lit. hears) 
him — but to God: if nobody understands 
him, then obviously he has no power di- 
rectly to edify the congregation ; but in 
spirit only, and without the participation 
of his understanding (cf. vv. 14, 15) he 
speaks mysteries, which may, indeed, sub- 
sequently be interpreted by himself (ver, 
5) or by some one else (ver. 28) but 
which, till they are interpreted, are unin- 
telligible, and therefore useless to the 
church. But, while the tongues are un- 
edifying, he who exercises the prophetic 
gift speaks to men — and therefore has 
a real place in public worship — edification: 
his speech is not merely sound (vv. 7» 8)> 
it builds the hearers up. Besides edifica- 
tion, his discourse is also exhortation and 
consolation. As, in the sequel, only ed- 
ification is mentioned (vv. 12, 26), possibly 
these two words are intended only to de- 
fine it more closely : by the prophet's 
speech, the remiss are shaken up, and the 
sorrowful comforted, and thus the church 
is edified. 

4, 5. Throughout, Paul is careful not 
to depreciate the tongues unduly, cf. ver. 
18, where he thanks God for them (cf. ver. 
5) ; and he here concedes that he that 
speaks with a tongue edifies — not of 
course the church, to which his words are 
unintelligible — but himself, even though 
they may not be wholly intelligible to him- 
self; for he feels that it is under the in- 
fluence of the spirit that he is moved to 
utterance. But he who exercises the 



prophetic gift, seeing he speaks intelligibly, 
edifies (the) whole church. His gift is 
less ostentatious, but more useful, and 
therefore more to be coveted (ver. i). 
So far is Paul from depreciating tongues 
that he goes on : Now I wish you spoke, 
every one of you, with tongues: but I 
wish still more that you prophesied. (tW 
is not here " in order that," but practically 
equal to preceding infin.). Besides, he 
that exercises the gift of a prophet is a 
greater, because more serviceable person, 
than he who speaks with tongues, un- 
less, as a matter of fact (ei with subj., not 
eaj'), he interpret, in order that the 
church may get edification. The church 
meets to be edified, she is not edified by 
speakers who are unintelligible; the unin- 
telligible speech, to be edifying, will have 
to be interpreted, {enros ei fx-i] is a pleonas- 
tic combination of e/cros ei, except if, and 
et fiv, unless.) 

6. The truth that unintelligible speech 
is of no use to the church, Paul brings 
home by a pointed illustration. And now, 
brethren. It is not quite clear whether 
nozu is logical or temporal: either (a) this 
being so, edification being impossible with- 
out interpretation, or (b) now, in view of 
your present difficulties: probably (a) is to 
be preferred. In either case, a visit from 
Paul would be of little use, unless he said 
something they could understand. If I 
come to you speaking with tongues, what 
good shall I do you, unless I speak to 
you either in the way of a revelation or 
of knowledge or of prophecy or of teach- 
ing?_ A re-relation would be a divine com- 
munication which he would impart in 
prophetic form ; knowledge would be the 
intellectual apprehension of it, which he 
would impart by way of teaching. Teach- 
ing or prophecy, but no tongues — they 
would help a perplexed people little. 

7-9. In a series of highly significant 
illustrations (vv. 7-11), Paul shows the 
futility of uninterpreted tongues as only so 



94 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XIV 



10 There are, it may be, so many kinds 
of voices in the world, and none of them 
is without signification. 

11 Therefore if I know not the mean- 
ing of the voice, I shall be unto him that 
speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh 
shall be a barbarian unto me. 

12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are 
zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may 
excel to the edifying of the church. 

13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in 
an unknown tongue pray that he may in- 
terpret. 

14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, 



niy spirit prayeth, but my understanding 
is unfruitful. 

15 What is it then? I will pray with 
the spirit, and I will pray with the under- 
standing also: I will sing with the spirit, 
and I will sing with the understanding 
also. 

16 Else, when thou shalt bless with 
the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the 
room of the unlearned say Amen at thy 
giving of thanks, seeming he understand- 
eth not what thou sayest? 

17 For thou verily givest thanks well, 
but the other is not edified. 



much sound without sense. Inanimate 
things — pipe or harp, for example — if, 
in giving forth voice they yet give no 
distinction to the notes, make no clear 
distinction between one note and another, 
how shall the tune be known that is be- 
ing played on the pipe or the harp? The 
result will be bewilderment and confusion 
— a tune which is no tune. Or for fur- 
ther illustration, pass from the music of 
peace to that of war: if the voice that 
the trumpet gives forth is not clear, who 
will get ready for battle? No real stim- 
ulus, no informed action, can come from 
unintelligible sounds. Your case is ex- 
actly the same: if by means of the 
tongue, your instrument of sound, you 
give forth a word which has no clear 
significance, how shall there be any 
knowledge of what is spoken? for you 
will be in the condition of people speaking 
(eaeaOe with partic.) not to men (ver. 2), 
but into (the) air — an idle enough ex- 
ercise, and profitless withal. 

10-12. From confused playing upon mu- 
sical instruments, he passes to the seem- 
ingly confused sounds of foreign lan- 
guages. There are ever so many kinds 
of voices, clearly here equal to lan- 
guages, mayhap, in the world: ^c^val is 
apparently preferred to yXd^aaat^ because of 
the ambiguity of the latter in this con- 
nection : and none of them is without 
voice, i.e. significance — languages have a 
voice, a meaning, for those who habitually 
speak and hear them. Well, then, if I do 
not know the force (dvpafiip), that is, the 
significance of the voice, I shall be a 
barbarian to the speaker, while the 
speaker, in his turn, will be a barbarian, 
in his relation to me (e" e^oi, in my case, 
rather than in my judgment). Your case 
is exactly the same "(ourws /cat i)^leis in 
ver. T2 is an echo of ver. 9; cf. ttws 
yvwad-qaerai in vv. 7, q). If you speak 
unintelligibly, you will be as barbarians 



within the church, whereas it is your duty 
to edify it. Therefore, since ye are cov- 
eters (cf. ver. i) of spirits, spiritual gifts 
and forces — perhaps they had made this 
claim in their letter — seek them with a 
view to the edification, of the church, in 
order that ye may abound in them. The 
order suggests that this translation is 
more correct than seek that ye may abound 
to the edification of the church, though 
the latter is not impossible. 

13, 14. Therefore, since tongues, un- 
interpreted, contribute nothing to edifica- 
tion, let him that speaks with a tongue 
pray that he may interpret (iVa being a 
blend of purpose and purport, and carry- 
ing, in such a context, the same ambiguity 
as the English that). Some suppose that 
pray here must be interpreted by " pray 
zcith tongues" of the next verse, and is 
not merely an ordinary prayer for the 
gift of interpretation. So Alford, who 
translates : " wherefore let him who 
speaketh with a tongue, in his prayer (or, 
when praying), strive that he may inter- 
pret." Still there is no absolute necessity 
why prayer in ver. 13 should mean pre- 
cisely the same thing as in ver. 14 ; and, 
in the context, the more natural explana- 
tion of the words would be this ; consider- 
ing the indefeasible importance of intelli- 
gible speech, if the church is to be edified, 
any one who has the gift of tongues, should 
pray for the power of interpreting them. 
For if I — with his usual tact, he makes 
the case his own (cf. xi. 32) : you would 
have been less courteous and skilful — 
pray in an estatic, unintelligible tongue, 
my spirit indeed prays — it is a real 
prayer — but my intelligence is unfruit- 
ful, because it yields nothing for the edifi- 
cation of others. Fervor, if it is to be 
practically helpful to the church, must be 
guided by intelligence: there must be mind 
in it. 

15-17. How then does the case stand? 



Ch. XIV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



95 



•i8 I thank my God, I speak with 
tongues more than ye all : 

19 Yet m the church I had rather 
speak five words with my understanding, 
that hy my voice I might teach others also, 



than ten thousand words in an unknown 
tongue. 

20 Brethren, be not children in under- 
standing : howbeit in malice be ye children, 
but in understanding be men. 



It stands thus; that, in public worship, 
both spirit and mind, fervor and intelli- 
gence, are necessary. I will pray with 
the spirit, but I will pray with the in- 
telligence also; I will sing praise {\paX\et.v^ 
originally of the instrumental accompani- 
ment, then of the song itself) with the 
spirit, but I will sing praise with the 
intelligence also. Apparently prayer and 
praise were the two directions in which 
speaking with tongues chiefly manifested 
itself. The use of the intelligence is ab- 
solutely incumbent upon those who take 
any leading part in public worship : for, 
i£ you — the effect of the argument is 
heightened by this direct, personal appeal 
— bless God, offer your prayer or song of 
thanksgiving to Him, in spirit only, and 
without the application of your intelli- 
gence, think of the man who fills the 
place of the uninitiated (6 dvairXripibv 
comes early in the sentence, in advance of 
TTws). By IdLUTrjs, strictly a private person, 
or a man with only lay and not expert 
knowledge, we are apparently here to un- 
derstand a Christian who has no experience 
of tongues and no power to interpret them. 
The word place (tottos) has been pressed 
so as to suggest that certain seats were 
reserved for these people in the church 
assemblies ; more probably it is the figura- 
tive, not the literal sense, that is here 
meant — position. This ISmttis^ as a Chris- 
tian, has to be considered, he comes to be 
edified : but how is he to say the cus- 
torriary Amen, which follows a public 
prayer (Neh. viii. 6, cf. Rev. v. 14), at 
your giving of thanks, since he does 
not know what you are saying? There is 
something almost humorously drastic about 
the question. The Amen has no meaning, 
unless the praj^er has been intelligently fol- 
lowed ; and that in the case assumed is 
impossible, as the prayer was dictated by 
spirit only, without the active exercise of 
intelligence. For, so far as you are con- 
cerned (o-i' iJ.y), your thanksgiving is all 
very well, but, when the church meets, 
you are not the only person to consider : 
there is the other man as well, and he is 
not edified. What you do is koKov, unob- 
jectionable, even good, but not edifying, 
and the church meets for edification. 

18-20. Again and again the argument 



has seemed to tend towards an absolute 
depreciation of the gift of tongues, but it 
is not so: Paul has the gift himself, and 
thanks God for it. I thank God, I speak 
with tongues more than all of you; here 
we get a glimpse of the powerfully ecstatic 
element in the nature of Paul. But, though 
a man may speak to God (ver. 2) in 
tongues, as he is moved, they are of no 
use in the church: tliere, says Paul, I 
would rather speak five words with my 
intelligence, that I might instruct others 
also — the others are always in Paul's 
mind (cf. ver. 17) — than ten thousand 
words in a tongue. Speaking in the 
church should be governed by the desire, 
not to create a sensation, but to produce 
an effect, an instructive effect ; rather a 
sentence that helps, than an oration that 
merely excites. This confession shows us 
the splendid balance of Paul. He had a 
deeply ecstatic element in his nature, and 
ecstatic experiences are acknowledged in 
2 Cor. V. 13, xii. 1-4; but he was well 
aware that the active exercise of intelli- 
gence was the higher manifestation of the 
spirit, and this was one of his invaluable 
contributions to religion. He set himself 
resolutely against the contemporary tend- 
ency to identify the spirit with the extraor- 
dinary, the violent, the abnormal, and 
proclaimed that its noblest manifestation 
was in the ordinary and normal exercise 
of intelligent powers — not as a wonder- 
working, but rather as an ethicizing force 
(cf. Gal. V. 22). The Corinthian passion 
for the ostentatious in spiritual things he 
gently (d§e\0ot, brethren, ver. 20) but 
deliberately characterizes as childish. 
Brethren, do not show yourselves chil- 
dren in mind, but — if you are to be 
children, let it be in ■ another sphere — in 
wickedness be as babies; in mind, how- 
ever, show yourselves full-grown (cf. ii. 
6, iii. i), by preferring, like the z^ise men 
they claimed to be, intelligence in worship 
to unintelligible and unedifying fervor. 

Another aspect of the question is briefly 
discussed in vv. 21-25, namely, the eifect 
of tongues and prophecy upon those who 
stand without the pale of Christianity, 
whether as unacquainted with it or hostile 
to it : here again the superiority of 
prophecy to tongues is demonstrated. 



96 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XIV 



21 In the law it is written, With men 
of other tongues and other hps will I 
speak unto this people; and yet for all 
that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. 

22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, 
not to them that believe, but to them that 
believe not : but prophesying serveth not 
for them that believe not, but for them 
which believe. 

23 If therefore the whole church be 
come together into one place, and all speak 



with tongues, and there come in those 
that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they 
not say that ye are mad? 

24 But if all prophesy, and there come 
in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, 
he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: 

25 And thus are the secrets of his 
heart made manifest; and so falling down 
on his face he will worship God, and re- 
port that God is in you of a truth. 



21. In the law, that is, in the Old Tes- 
tament (Isaiah xxviii. 11, 12), it stands 
■written: "Surely in men of strange 
tongue and in lips of strangers will I 
speak to this people, and not even so 
will they give heed unto me, saith the 
Lord." The term the law, primarily the 
Pentateuch, came to be applied to the 
whole of the Old Testament : in John x. 
34, it is used of Ps. Ixxxii. 6. In Isaiah 
there is, of course, no reference to such 
speaking with tongues as was practised in 
Corinth. The prophet's contemporaries 
scoffingly rejected his instruction, which 
seemed to them puerile ; and he warns 
them that the next divine message would 
come to them from Assyrian lips — the 
conquerors with their foreign speech would 
be upon them, though even so terrible an 
experience would not bring the frivolous 
Israelites to listen to their God. 

22-25. And so — this is the inference — 
the tongues are for a sign not to those 
who believe, but to the unbelievers, not 
apparently a sign which would induce them 
to repent and be saved, but one which 
would confirm them still more in their 
obstinacy or indifference; for ii:ill they not 
say that you are mad (ver. 23), just as 
Israel zvonld not hearken (Is. xxviii. 12). 
The citation has the value only of illus- 
tration, not of proof: there is, of course, 
in Isaiah, no prophecy of the Corinthian 
situation. Tongues are, then, in this sense, 
an ominous sign to unbelievers, while 
prophecy, on the other hand, is not for 
the unbelievers, but for those who be- 
lieve. If then the whole church assem- 
bles together, and all talk unceasingly, 
(prcs.) with tongues, and persons should 
come in to the meeting who are either 
without knowledge (of Christianity) or 
positively unbelieving, what will the effect 
be? will they not say that you are mad? 
If speaking with tongues were the only 
public religious exercise, not only would 
the conversion of outsiders be impossible, 
but they would suppose that they had 
stumbled into a lunatic asylum. On the 



other hand, if all prophesy, and one 
comes in to the meeting, an unbeliever 
even or one simply without knowledge 
(of Christianity), the effect is far-reach- 
ing, a conviction is produced which may 
end in conversion ; he is convicted (cf. 
John xvi. 8) by all — every fresh speaker 
distresses his conscience anew, and deepens 
his sense of guilt — he is sifted by all, 
every new speech brings him before an 
inner tribunal, the secrets of his heart 
grow manifest, as the search-light is 
flashed upon them by the divinely illumi- 
nated speakers : and so, under the over- 
whelming impression of the presence of 
God produced by these inspired and search- 
ing speeches, he, even though an unbe- 
liever before, will humbly fall upon his 
face prostrate, and worship God, declar- 
ing, in that act and afterwards by speech, 
that God is among you in reality: such 
impressions can have only one source. 
This description of the effect of prophecy 
is not strictly consistent with ver. 22 where 
it is a sign to the believing : it supplements 
that statement, by insisting upon its power 
not only to edify the believing, but to 
search, convict, and convert the unbe- 
liever, here (unlike ver, 23) mentioned be- 
fore the IdiuTvs, as its effect upon him is 
more wonderful. 



These last verses give a very welcome 
description of the nature of prophecy in 
the early church. It does not seem to 
have differed essentially from preaching 
upon its higher levels. It is a mode of 
speech governed by intelligence, and ad- 
dressing itself to intelligence; but still 
more than to the mind was its appeal to 
tlie conscience, which it searched and con- 
victed so powerfully that God Himself was 
felt to be behind it. Its result or at least 
its aim was the conversion of unbelievers 
and the edification of the church assembled. 

Very different was the speaking with 
tongues. This chapter puts it beyond all 
possible doubt that this speech had noth- 



Ch. XIV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



97 



26 How is it then, brethren? when ye 
come together, every one of you hath a 
psahn, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath 
a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let 
all things be done unto edifying. 

2.^ If any man speak in an unknown 
tongue, let it be by two, or at the most 



by three, and that by course; and let one 
interpret. 

28 But if there be no interpreter, let 
him keep silence in the church; and let 
him speak to himself, and to God. 

29 Let the prophets speak two or three, 
and let the other judge. 



ing whatever to do with foreign languages. 
It is compared to foreign speech (vv. 10, 
11) in its unintelligibility to those who 
have no means of interpreting it: it must 
therefore have been a different thing. It 
produced the same kind of effect as a 
tune incoherently played upon a musical 
instrument : it was noisy, but, for the un- 
initiated, senseless, and those who spoke it 
would seem to an outsider to be behaving 
like madmen. What a curious light the 
passage throws upon ancient Christian 
worship ! The prominence given to the 
discussion of tongues shows that the phe- 
nomenon was by no means infrequent ; and 
it was a singular Providence that so sane 
a thinker as Paul appeared to direct the 
exuberant emotion and activity of the 
church into more profitable channels. 



Directions for the Conduct of Public 
Worship (xiv. 26-36). 

The general principle has already been 
suggested that edification is to be the cri- 
terion of the value of spiritual gifts, and 
the supreme end of their exercise in the 
church assembly. This principle is now 
applied more particularly, and takes the 
form of specific injunction. 

26. How does the case stand, then, 
brethren? (cf. v. 15). Every time ye as- 
semble (pres., different from (rwiXdrj^ aor., 
in ver. 23) every member has a distinct 
contribution to make : each one has a 
psalm, perhaps from the Old Testament 
(interpreted of course in the Christian 
sense), or just as probably a hymn com- 
posed under the new inspiration created 
by Christianity, such as those in Luke i, 
ii, and scattered throughout Revelation. 
Praise "with tongues" (cf. ver. 15) is not 
here contemplated, as the tongues are men- 
tioned afterwards. Another man has a 
teaching, instruction, but hardly yet dog- 
matic teaching (ver. 6) ; another has a rev- 
elation, a divine communication, which he 
will set forth prophetically (ver. 6) ; an- 
other has a tongue, offers prayer or praise 
ecstatically, another has interpretation (cf. 
xii. 8-10, 28-31), and so can edify the 
church by explaining these strange utter- 



ances. The emphatic repetition of the 
ex^t suggestively illustrates the individuality 
of the gifts ; each man has something to 
contribute, and the assembled church has 
at her disposal a great variety of spiritual 
gifts. The question naturally arises : how 
are they to be utilized, and in what spirit? 
The answer is illuminating : Let all 
things be carried on with a view to 
edification. This principle affords the 
practical solution of all the problems that 
may arise. It will decide, for example, 
that an utterance with tongues, for which 
there is no interpreter, will be repressed ; 
it will decide how many prophets should 
be allowed to speak at one service ; it will 
impose silence upon a speaker, when a new 
revelation has been made to some other 
member. 

27-29. The principle of edification is ap- 
plied in detail. First, not in importance, 
but in immediate interest to the Corin- 
thians, is ecstatic utterance ; in the case o£ 
speaking with tongues, let it be to the 
number of two, or at most three — at 
one* meeting, of course — and by turn, 
not all at one time, as we may reasonably 
hifer from this injunction the Corinthians 
had occasionally, if not frequently, done; 
another glimpse into the tumultuous na- 
ture of their worship, and the need for 
regulating it. And, as interpretation is in- 
dispensable for edification, let one, but not 
more than one, interpret: should there be 
no interpreter, however, either in the 
person of the speaker himself (ver. 5) or 
of any other, let him who speaks with 
tongues keep silence (pres.) in (the) 
church {i.e. the assembly, not the build- 
ing), and, as he cannot ' speak edifyingly 
to men (ver. 2), let him speak to him- 
self and to God. That will practically 
mean at home or in private; for ^akelv 
could hardly be used of inaudible speech 
to himself in the public assembly. There 
is no real place for unintelligible speech in 
the church. In the case of prophets who, 
in spite of the many spiritual gifts repre- 
sented in the church (ver. 26) divide the 
interest, throughout this discussion, with 
the ecstatic speakers, let two or three 
speak in the course of a service, and let 
the others, who have the gift of dis- 



98 



I £)ORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XIV 



30 If any thing be revealed to another 
that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. 

31, For ye may all prophesy one by one, 
that all may learn, and all may be com- 
forted. 

32 And the spirits of the prophets are 
subject to the prophets. 

33 For God is not the author of con- 
fusion, but of peace, as in all churches of 
the saints. 



34 Let your women keep silence in the 
churches; for it is not permitted unto them 
to speak; but they are commanded to be 
under obedience, as also saith the law. 

35 And if they will learn any thing, let 
them ask their husbands at home: for it is 
a shame for woman to speak in the church. 

36 What ! came the word of God out 
from you? or came it unto you only? 



criminating the spirits (ver. 10) discrim- 
inate, and decide whether these prophetic 
utterances really have their source in God. 
30-33. If, however, while a prophet is 
speaking, a revelation be made to an- 
other who is sitting by (the speaker 
stands, the people sit), let the first keep 
silence, bring his speech to a close in 
deference to the new revelation. This 
shows that the injunctions here laid down 
are elastic, not mechanical. How the pres- 
ence of a new message in the assembly 
might be indicated, we are not told ; but 
it is significant that the speaker, inspired 
though he is conceived to be, has in such 
a case to stop, and resume his seat. It 
might be urged that it was simply impos- 
sible for an eager, earnest, prophet, thus to 
repress himself at a moment's notice. Not so, 
says Paul : for you have ALL the power 
to prophesy, if you do so one by one 
• — and if due self-restraint is exercised, 
even assuming that they all possessed the 
prophetic gift (ver. 24), they would thus 
all in course of time, have the opportunity 
— in order that in this way ALL the mem- 
bers of tne church may learn, and ALL 
be stimulated: if all such gifts are exer- 
cised, all the members will be spiritually 
furthered. And this self-repression is per- 
fectly possible, for (the) spirits of 
prophets are subject to (the) prophets 
in whom they reside : a prophet is an i)i- 
telligent person, he has vovs, and ought to 
be able to master his emotion : he must 
not be the victim of his own fervid elo- 
quence, but must promptly and willingly 
give place to another inspired speaker, 
with a new message. There ought to be 
no confusion or disorder within the church ; 
for she is God's (i. 2) and her life ought 
to reflect the peace and order of His: for 
God is a God, not of disorder, but of 
peace. The next clause, as in all the 
churches of the saints, seems better taken 
as an appendage to ver. 33 (A. V.) than 
as introduction to ver. 34. On the latter 
assumption, the repetition of in the churches 
would be rather awkward ; a similar phrase 
occurs in xi. 16 as the end of a paragraph, 



and the imperatival clause has more force 
as the first clause than it would have as 
second. The meaning will then be, that 
the Corinthians are to beware of violating 
that divine order which is maintained in 
the other churches. Westcott and Hort, 
by bracketing 32, 33a, connect this clause 
with ver, 31. 

34-36. The question of church order nat- 
urally suggests the place of women in the 
church. On the principle of the equality of 
the sexes in Christ (Gal. iii. 28), there is 
no reason why women should not have 
spiritual endowments equally with men ; 
nor, theoretically considered, is there any 
reason why such gifts as they had should 
not be used for the edification of the 
church. But we have already seen the 
practical difficulties involved (xi. 1-16) in 
the new position secured for women, at 
least in principle, by the new religion. A 
restraint had to be imposed upon their un- 
womanly use of the: liberty which was 
theirs and here (vv. 34-36) we find that 
restraint carried still further. Let the 
women keep silence in the churches, for 
they are not permitted to speak: as the 
more emotional sex, they would probably 
have been especially apt to " speak with 
tongues." But let them be in subjection, 
as the law, that is, the passage in Gen. 
iii. 15, says also. It is not easy to recon- 
cile this passage with xi. 5, where women 
do speak and pray, clearly in public ; and 
one is tempted to adopt the drastic sug- 
gestion that vv. 34, 35 are a later inter- 
polation, (a) Their place, Bousset argues, 
in the MSS. varies ; in one group they ap- 
pear after ver. 40; (b) they are not nec- 
essary to the connection — ver. 36 joins 
well to 33b; (c) The verses contradict xi. 
5, 13; (d) they seem to be dependent on 
I Tim. ii. iif. If the verses are genuine, 
we may suppose with Lietzmann. that " in 
ch. xi. the praying and prophesying of 
women is unwillingly conceded (the veil 
however being unconditionally demanded) 
but here the apostle's real opinion comes 
out. that women ought to be altogether 
silent;" or with Findlay, that Paul is here 



Ch. XIV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



99 



37 If any man think himself to be a 
prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge 
that the things that I write mito you are 
the commandments of the Lord. 

38 But if any man be ignorant, let him 
be ignorant. 



39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to proph- 
esy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. 

40 Let all things be done decently and 
in order. 



*' thinking of church-teaching and authorita- 
tive direction as a role unfit for women ;" 
Teaching is out of the question: if, how- 
ever, they wish to LEARN anything, they 
are not to put their questions in public, 
but at home; there let them ask their 
own husbands (he is clearly therefore 
thinking of married women), and no other 
men — there, at home, for it is a disgrace 
for a woman to speak in church assembly. 
The Corinthians, by the license they have 
given their women, are acting as if, in 
somie sense, they were a special church. 
Paul sharply disabuses them of this idea, 
if they entertained it, by an ironical ques- 
tion. It was from you, perhaps, was it, 
that the word of God, the truth of the 
gospel, came forth, or was it you only to 
whom it reached? You were not the 
first to publish it, nor are you the only 
ones to enjoy it. Some refer this question 
not exclusively to the behaviour of the 
women, but to all the points of public wor- 
ship that have come up for discussion. 



Paul's Claim of Inspiration (xiv. S7i 38)- 

37, 38. If any one thinks himself to 
be a prophet, or endowed with spiritual 
(gifts), let him take knowledge that what 
I am writing to you, on this question of 
public worship and spiritual endowments, 
is the commandment of the Lord Jesus 
Himself. This is a bold claim to make, 
which finds its best justification in the 
sanity of the commands, in the insistence 
upon edification as a criterion of the gifts, 
and upon love as the spirit in which they 
should be exercised. Paul is quite pre- 
pared, however, to find his claim disputed : 
but he will not discuss the point, he simply 
leaves the objector to the enjoyment of 
his ignorance. But if anyone is ignorant 
of this, that my instructions are inspired 
by the Lord Himself, let him remain in 
his ignorance (pres.). To o.yvo€t.Tio (imper.) 
there is an alternative reading, dyvoeirai, 
he is ignored (by God: cf. Mat. vii. 23, xxv. 
12), his fate will be condemnation; but the 
other translation, presupposing no ellipse, 
is more natural, and makes a very appro- 
priate conclusion. 



Summary of the Discussion (xiv. 39, 40). 

39, 40. The whole discussion is admira- 
bly summarized (were, cf. xv. 58), in the 
two concluding verses. So then, my 
brethren, covet prophesying, for it is one 
of the great spiritual gifts (cf. xii. 31, xiv. i 
where f^AoOre is also used), and speaking 
with tongues — do not encourage, for it is 
not edifying, but — do not prevent, for it 
is, after all, a spiritual exercise ; only, of 
course, if an interpreter can be found, will 
such speech have a place in the church (ver. 
28). But let all things, prophesying, 
tongues, and all the other exercises of wor- 
ship (ver. 26) be carried on with seemli- 
ness and in order: there must be no im- 
propriety and no confusion, such as where 
speakers spoke at the same time, or the 
number was unlimited (ver. 27), for these 
render true edification impossible (ver. 26). 



This ancient discussion of public worship 
is most instructive and suggestive. There 
was a spontaneity about the early Christian 
service which hardly marks the worship of 
to-day — an ebullition of feehng inevitable 
to men to whom Christianity meant an in- 
tellectual and spiritual revolution. In this 
exuberant emotion, when it was uncon- 
trolled, Paul saw a menace to the true 
spirit of worship : and he insists upon the 
supreme need of intelligence, mind, in pub- 
lic worship. Spiritual fervor is not enough 
— that alone may create the impression 
that the church is a gathering of madmen : 
prayer, praise, preaching, must be engaged 
in« " with the understanding also." There 
must be seemliness and order, every part in 
its proper place, every speaker possessed 
of the spirit, yet also master of his own 
spirit, the whole service pervaded by the 
beauty and serenity of God Himself (ver. 
2S). And all this will be secured, if it be 
remembered that the true end of the church- 
assembly is edification. This is a great and 
fruitful saying, and Paul repeatedly insists 
upon it. The church meets to be built up, 
and all the exercises are useful, only in 
proportion as they contribute to that. 

The modern church service is undoubt- 
edly inferior to the ancient in affording 



100 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XIV 



less scope for the various gifts and capaci- 
ties of its members. Doubtless there are 
other spheres where most of these gifts 
may be exercised, yet it is to the loss of 
the church that this great opportunity is 
made so little of. Bengel quaintly re- 
marks, " The public assembly was at that 
time more fruitful than in the present day, 
wherein one individual, whatever may be 
the state of his mind, must fill up the time 
with a sermon." In those days every man 
came prepared with a contribution, psalm, 



teaching, revelation, or whatever it might 
be (ver. 26) ; and, though this very cir- 
cumstance led to confusion, and created 
the necessity for appointments which 
would bring " secmlincss and order " into 
church worship, the stateliness which gov- 
erns our worship, combined with other rea- 
sons, has had the indirect, though perhaps 
not inevitable effect, of suppressing gifts of 
the most diverse kinds, which would have 
been capable of contributing not a little to 
the edification of the church. 



102 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XV 



THE RESURRECTION (xv), 



CHAPTER 15. 

I Moreover, brethren, I declare unto 
you the gospel which I preached unto you, 



which also ye have received, and wherein 
ye stand. 

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep 
in memory what I preached unto you, un- 
less ye have believed in vain. 



The discussion of the resurrection is more 
doctrinal than any other in the epistle, yet 
the interest in it is not theoretical, but in- 
tensely practical, and the discussion is de- 
signed to meet a specific situation in the 
Corinthian church. Some had denied the 
resurrection (ver. 12), which to Paul was 
one of the most vital elements in Christian 
belief: if this were taken away, there was 
nothing left for the Christian but sorrow 
in this life, unredeemed by hope for the 
life to come (ver. 19). The denial of the 
resurrection could only end in a practical 
Epicureanism (ver. 32) : life would be 
robbed of its nobleness, and, with a dead 
redeemer, redemption from sin would be 
an idle dream (ver. 17). It is probable 
that those who denied the resurrection of 
the body did so in the interests of a spir- 
itual view of the world : what they denied 
was probably not the continuance of per- 
sonality, but the rising again of the^ body 
from the dead — they were antimaterialists. 
But Paul feels that in this denial of the 
resurrection, everything is at stake — the 
truth of the gospel, the honor of the apos- 
tles, the reality of redemption ; and he sets 
himself with superb earnestness to combat 
this dangerous heresy with arguments of 
various kinds. 



The Place of the Resurrection in the Gos- 
pel, and the Historical Evidence for 
it (xv. i-ii). 

I, 2. Paul begins by reminding his 
readers of the nature of the gospel which 
he had preached and they had believed, and 
of the fundamental place held in that gos- 
pel by the resurrection. Now — passing 
(5e) from the question of worship to that 
ol creed (probably suggested to Paul by the 
letter of the Corinthians, cf. vii. i, viii. i, 
xii. I, xvi. i) — I regret that I have to 
make known to you, again, brethren (for 
on this matter you ought to be perfectly 
well informed), the gospel which I 
preached to you. He had proclaimed it to 
receptive cars and hearts. It was a gospel, 
not only which he had preached, but 
which you on your part received, and 



received to some purpose : it had made 
them steadfast, and started them on the 
way of salvation, being a gospel in which 
moreover ye stand, through which fur- 
ther ye are being saved. The gospel 
swept the whole compass of their past, 
present and future, from the day on which 
they had believed and received it to the 
day on which the process of their salva- 
tion, then begun, would be completely 
realized. This gospel which had so sig- 
nally proved its power, Paul feels the need 
of declaring to the Corinthians again, as 
some of them had deliberately abandoned 
or denied one of its most vital tenets. The 
meaning of the remaining clauses of ver. 
2 is doubtful, though the words themselves 
are simple enough: literally, with what 
word I preached (it) to you, if ye hold 
it fast, unless ye became believers (aor.) 
heedlessly. Any translation must be inade- 
quate which makes the interrogative rivi 
co-ordinate with the four preceding rela- 
tives ; but it is not clear whether the clause 
zi'ith zvhat word I preached to you goes 
with / make known or, as A. V. and A. 
R. V. take it, or with if ye hold fast. 
In the latter case the inversion of the 
clauses is awkward ; though, if the inver- 
sion be allowed, the connection with the 
previous sentence is good ; " through which 
ye are being saved, if ye hold fast with 
what word I preached to you." In the 
former case, " I make known," . . . " if 
ye hold fast " do not go well together : 
Paul's announcement of the gospel did not 
depend upon the Corinthians holding it 
fast. Nevertheless this construction seems, 
on the whole, preferable to the other : un- 
der the influence of the four intervening 
relative clauses, the introductory yviapl^u 
is half forgotten ; and the ;/ clause is prac- 
tically =" if perchance (i.e. I hope) you 
are holding it fast." The meaning of the 
last clause (for the redundancy in e/croj 
el fj.Ti, cf. xiv. 5) is also disputed: unless 
ye belicz'ed idly. Does this moan : unless 
your faith zvas vain (subjective) or unless 
the thing you believed was vain (objec- 
t'vc) ? Later (ver. 14) the possibility of 
the gospel message being an idle tale is 
contemplated, but such a thought at this 



Ch. XV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



103 



3 For I delivered unto you first of all 
that which I also received, how that Christ 
died for our sins according to the Scrip- 
tures ; 

4 And that he was buried, and that he 
rose again the third day according to the 
Scriptures : 



5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then 
of the twelve : 

6 After that, he was seen of above five 
hundred brethren at once ; of whom the 
greater part remain unto this present, but 
some are fallen asleep. 

7 After that, he was seen of James ; 
then of all the apostles. 



stage would be an anticipation. The gospel 
is powerful : it is the adequacy of their 
faith in it that he doubts. It cannot itself 
be a vain thing, for in it they stand, and 
through it they are saved. 

3. This verse, with ver. 4, explains (yo-p) 
the contents of the gospel which had before 
been proclaimed to them. For I delivered 
to you as among the most important 
things — irpdjTOLs first, not in point of time, 
but of importance — that which also I 
received. This phrase forcibly recalls xi. 
2^, and suggests, like it, the duty of trans- 
mitting what was committed. Unlike it; 
the source of the communication is not 
mentioned. The absence of the phrase from 
the Lord leaves it open to us to suppose 
that the statements which follow came to 
Paul through ordinary oral communication 
from the leaders of the church ; but con- 
sidering the emphasis which he immediately 
lays upon Christ's appearing to him (ver. 
8) it is possible that something more inti- 
mate is here implied. Then follows a sum- 
mary Christian creed, invaluable as reveal- 
ing what, to Paul, constituted the essence 
of the "gospel:" that Christ died. It 
is true that Paul is preparing the way for 
his statement of the resurrection ; but it is 
none the less interesting and significant that 
he passes over all the activities of His 
life, and begins with mention of His death 
for our sins, that is to atone for sin and 
" to take it out of the world." Paul never 
regards the death of Christ as the mere 
result of the historical forces to which, 
humanly speaking, it was due : it is the 
consummation of a great divine purpose by 
which " He was delivered up for our tres- 
passes" (Rom. iv. 25: cf. 2 Cor. v. 18 ff.) 
— a purpose of which ancient men had had 
glimpses (cf. i Pet. i. 11) and which there- 
fore was fulfilled according to the Scrip- 
tures. The early church (Acts xvii. 3, etc.) 
followed the practice of Jesus (Luke xxii. 
27, xxiv. 46 f.) in connecting His suffer- 
ings with Old Testament prophecy. Prob- 
ably Isaiah liii. was the passage which hov- 
ered most frequently before their minds 
(cf. Luke xxii. 37) : and, whatever was its 
original application, nothing was more nat- 



ural than that from Christians it should 
receive a Messianic interpretation. 

4. The creed, then, is that Christ died, 
and th^t He was buried — this touch is 
perhaps added to suggest how really, if 
only temporarily, He came under the power 
of the grave, from which He rose tri- 
umphant — and that He has been raised 
on the third day. The tenses are very 
carefully chosen : the death and the burial 
are historic facts (aor.), the effect of the 
resurrection is abiding (hence perf.) : He 
is a risen One. It is not said that Christ 
rose, but that He was raised. His resur- 
rection is the work of God (cf. ver. 15), 
the divine seal upon the work of Christ. 
This, too, like the passion, took place, ac- 
cording to the Scriptures. The passage 
in which the resurrection on the third day 
was believed to have been predicted, appears 
to have been Hosea vi. 2. " After two 
days will He revive us ; on the third day 
He will raise us up." In Hosea, it is 
Israel who expects to be raised up on the 
third day. The passage has nothing to do 
with the Messiah : it is not a prediction of 
His resurrection, but the people's expression 
of hope in the national resurrection. But, 
like so many other passages in the Old 
Testament, it came to have a Messianic in- 
terpretation (cf. Book of Acts passim) ; in 
JMat. xii. 40, the resurrection is connected 
with Jonah ii, i, 2. These N. T. allu- 
sions to O. T. prophecy, though not always 
justified by strict exegesis, suggest a fine 
conception of history, according to which 
a divine purpose, in part revealed to and 
interpreted by men of prophetic instinct, 
was being worked out throughout the ages, 
and found its consummation in Christ. 

5-7. The truth on which Paul is here 
insisting as vital to the gospel, and almost 
synonymous with it, is that of the resur- 
rection : he therefore proceeds to establish 
it beyond all doubt by adducing historical 
evidence for it. As this evidence, and not 
the fact alone, is part of the trust he com- 
mitted to the Corinthians, he proceeds, and 
that: and the witnesses he adduces are 
either those who Avere very conspicuous in 
the church, like Peter and James, and 



104 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XV 



8 And last of all he was seen of me 
also, as of one born out of due time. 

9 For I am the least of the apostles, 
that am not meet to be called an apostle, 
because, I persecuted the church of God. 

ID But by the grace of God I am what 



I am : and his grace which zcas bestowed 
upon me was not in vain ; but I laboured 
more abundantly than they all ; yet not I, 
but the grace of God which was with me. 
II Therefore whether it z\.'ere I or they, 
so we preach, and so ye believed. 



whose evidence is above all suspicion (cf. 
ver. 15) ; or witnesses who were accessi- 
ble, like the survivors of the five hundred. 
And that he appeared to Cephas (Luke 
xxiv. 34), the usual designation of Peter 
in Paul's epistles (cf. i. 12), then to the 
twelve disciples, or apostles as they were 
now called (Luke xxiv. 36) : there were 
really only ten, Judas and Thomas being 
absent — the twelve is the semi-official des- 
ignation of the group. The repeated use 
of ^Ira or cTretra shows that the order is 
chronological. Though the following sen- 
tences (vv. 6, 7) appear as independent 
statements, and are not, like vv. 3-5 for- 
mally introduced by that, they are no doubt 
part of Paul's " commission " to the Corin- 
thians, as he is making the case for the 
resurrection as strong as possible. Then 
He appeared to above five hundred 
brethren at once (on an occasion supposed 
to be alluded to in Mat. xxviii. 17) of 
whom the majority survive to this day 
and are therefore competent to give evi- 
dence at first hand, though some have 
fallen asleep (Christian euphemism for 
died, cf. xi. 30: aorist, lit. fell asleep), 
consequently their evidence cannot be ad- 
duced ; yet, as Bengel finely says, " It was 
not of less importance to bring forward 
these as witnesses. They had died in this 
belief." They had fallen asleep in Christ 
(cf. ver. 18). Then, on an occasion not 
'recorded in our Gospels, he appeared to 
James, the brother of the Lord (Gal. i. 
19), worthy of special mention here as the 
leader of the Jerusalem church ; then to 
all the apostles. The preceding mention 
of " the twelve " makes it possible that 
apostles must here be taken in a wider 
sense : the meaning may be, however, that 
on this occasion (whether that of John 
XX. 26, or more probably Acts i. 2-4) all 
(irdaLv at end, emphatic) the apostles were 
present. It is remarkable that, although 
Paul is summarizing the most conclusive 
facts for the resurrection of Christ, he 
says nothing of the empty grave, nor of 
the testimony of the women : he does not 
however profess to give all the evidence, 
and the testimony of the women might 
have been challenged by the sceptically 
minded. It is also remarkable that, of 
the evidence adduced, so little is known 



from the gospels : the appearance to Peter 
is mentioned quite incidentally, and that 
to James not at all. The gospels tell much, 
but much is left untold. 

8. And last of all, last in time and 
last in dignity (for he is the least of the 
apostles, ver. 9), as to the one untimely 
born, He appeared to ME ALSO (em- 
phatic, at end). When Paul insists upon 
the truth of the resurrection, he knows 
whereof he speaks, for the risen Christ 
was actually seen (w0^?j) by him on the 
ever-memorable day of his journey to 
Damascus. He calls himself the abortion 
(the abortion perhaps suggests that this 
was a nickname) possibly on account of 
the strangeness and suddenness of his 
Christian birth. " What an abortion is 
among children, that am I among the 
apostles" (Bengel). In his description of 
Christ's appearance to Himself, Paul uses 
the same word co^drj (was seen) as he had 
used of the other appearances ; his vision 
of the risen Christ was as real as theirs. 
He and they alike had seen Christ, and 
therefore were bound to believe in His 
resurrection, not merely in His continued 
personality. 

9-11. For as for me (h<^, emphatic), 
abortion as they called me, and as I am, 
I am the least of the apostles, indeed I 
am not fit to be called apostle, because 
I persecuted the church of God: he 
shudders as he thinks how fierce an oppo- 
nent he had been of God and His church. 
Remorse for the misguided zeal of those 
days ever haunted" and humiliated him; 
but it is tempered by the thought of the 
infinite grace of God, which had checked 
him, saved him, and honored him by a 
place of conspicuous toil (eKowiaca) , Then 
he was less than nothing, now he is some- 
thing; the grace of God has made him 
something. The three-fold repetition of 
the grace of God within one verse shows 
how overwhelming he feels his debt to God 
to be for his present state. But by the 
grace of God I am what I am, not an 
abortion (only) but an apostle, and the 
most active apostle of all : for His grace 
extended towards me did not prove 
empty, but, on the contrary, it called and 
equipped me for abundant toil — Paul re- 
sponds to the grace of God by a life of 



€h. XV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



105 



12 Now if Christ be preached that he 
rose from the dead, how say some among 
you that there is no resurrection of the 
dead? 

13 But if there be no resurrection of 
the dead, then is Christ not risen: 

14 And if Christ be not risen, then is 
our preaching vain, and your faith is also 
vain. 



15 Yea, and we are found false wit- 
nesses of God ; because we have testified 
of God that he raised up Christ: whom 
he raised not up, if so be that the dead 
rise not. 

16 For if the dead rise not, then is not 
Christ raised : 

17 And if Christ be not raised, your 
faith is vain ; ye are yet in your sins. 



unusual toil, which is itself a gift of 
grace — I toiled (e/coTrmo-a suggests hard 
work) more abundantly than all of them 
together (or, if this be considered too 
strong an assertion, we may perhaps trans- 
late, than any of them). The life of labor 
and persecution which his apostleship in- 
volved has already been suggested by iv. 
9-13. Paul almost seems to regret the 
comparison into which he has been led by 
reflecting upon what the grace of God has 
made of him ; and at once he checks him- 
self: yet not I, but the grace of God 
accompanying me. It rather than he, it 
through and with him, had done the work. 
But Paul will not let himself be drawn 
into a discussion irrelevant to his main 
theme, therefore he abruptly concludes : It 
matters not then, whether I or they, who 
had the vision and did the work, this is 
how we preach, and this is how ye then 
believed: this — the statement he had com- 
mitted to them about the death and espe- 
cially the resurrection of Christ (vv. 3, 4). 
On this crucial point, Peter, James, Paul, 
were absolutely unanimous. 



The Consequences of Denying the Resurrec- 
tion (xv. 12-19). 

12. In the preceding paragraph, Paul 
has established the resurrection of Christ 
as a fact, by evidence ample, irreproachable, 
and irrefutable. In spite of this, however, 
there are some at Corinth who deny, in 
general, the possibility of resurrection. 
Paul with great earnestness proceeds to 
show how utterly disastrous to Christian 
faith and hope such a denial wo.uld be. 
Now (5e marks the transition to the real 
question which was in Paul's mind when 
he started the discussion) if Christ is 
preached that He is risen from (the) 
dead: this translation preserves the flavor 
of the passive voice which must not be 
lost sight of in eyrjyeprai. (see ver. 4; 
therefore not "has risen"), and also of 
the perfect tense. Till we reach ver. 29, 
the Greek word is simply dead (veKpoi) 
not the dead : it calls up the dead as per- 



sons rather than as a class, and is conse- 
quently more graphic than the English 
phrase ; but it is almost impossible to repro- 
duce this touch in English. Paul's sentence 
is more significant than if he had written, 
" If it is preached that Christ is risen." 
The theme of the preaching is not a truth, 
but a Person, Christ, either crucified (i. 23, 
where K-npvaaoixev is also used), or risen — 
to Paul these two aspects are vitally con- 
nected (cf. Rom. iv, 24, 25). If then, the 
preaching of Christ involves the preaching 
of His resurrection, how is it that among 
you some maintain that there is no such 
thing as a resurrection of dead men? 
Those who so maintained were some, per- 
haps not many; but against such a deadly 
heresy a heavy blow must be struck at 
once. The resurrection of the body would 
offer a peculiar stumbling block to the 
philosophically minded Greeks (cf. Acts 
xvii. 18, 32), some of whom while be- 
lieving in the immortality of the soul, re- 
garded the body but as the prison of the 
soul, neither capable nor worthy of hold- 
ing any place in the world beyond death. 
A spiritual body was to them a meaningless 
phrase (cf. ver. 35). They may also have 
been encouraged in their opinions by Paul's 
preaching of a mystical death and resur- 
rection with Christ. Apparently they did 
not deny the resurrection of Christ Himself 
— • Paul's argument assumes that they ac- 
cept it — but they may have regarded that 
as unique, Paul at once shows them that 
to accept the one and deny the other is 
illogical. 

13-17. Now if there is no such thing as 
a resurrection of dead men, then neither 
is Christ risen: if there can be no risen 
men, there can be no risen Christ, for 
Christ belongs to humanity. And if Christ 
is not risen, then our preaching is utterly 
empty {Kevov^ emphatic), for the risen 
Christ is the core of it, empty too, is our 
(or your) faith. There is no real sub- 
stance in our message, and a faith resting 
upon such a message must be equally hol- 
low : we have nothing to preach, and there 
is nothing worth believing. And not only 
so, but we, who are prepared to offer the 



106 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XV 



i8 Then they also which are fallen 
asleep in Christ are perished. 

19 If in this life only we have hope in 
Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 

20 But now is Christ risen from the 
dead, and become the firstfruits of them 
that slept. 



21 For since by man came death, by 
man came also the resurrection of the 
dead. 

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in 
Christ shall all be made alive. 



most circumstantial evidence for our asser- 
tions (vv. 5-8), are further discovered to 
be lying witnesses for God, in that we 
wronged God by witnessing that He 
raised Christ, whereas He did not raise 
Him, if so be then that dead men are 
not raised. Literally, " in that we testified 
against (rather than concerning) God," i.e. 
wronged Him in testifying. If the resur- 
rection is not true, the apostles, who tes- 
tify to it, are liars, and that, too, in the 
highest relationship conceivable — their re- 
lationship to God. An impossible supposi- 
tion surely ! Here the thought is very 
expHcit, which everywhere is implied : 
Christ does not rise. He is raised: God 
raises Him. The thought of ver. 13 is 
repeated with renewed emphasis : for, if 
dead men are not raised, then neither is 
Christ risen. The consequences of this 
would be terrible: and if Christ is not 
risen, then your faith, which is empty 
(ver. 14), as it is faith in nothing, is 
further fruitless, it produces no effect in 
your essentially sinful condition. Ye are 
yet within the sphere of your sins, from 
which you had supposed you were justified 
by the resurrection of Christ (Rom. iv. 25). 
There can be no redemption with a dead 
redeemer. 

18, 19. So it is with the living. The 
destiny of the dead Christian is equally 
pathetic. Then also those who were laid to 
sleep (cf. ver. 6) in communion with a 
dead Christ perished, by passing — some 
suppose — into that misery in Hades which, 
in the pictorial language of Luke xvi. 23, 
is the lot of those who die "yet in their 
sins." This is perhaps to overpress the 
words : the reference may simply be to an- 
nihilation (cf. Ps. i. 6). If then in this 
life we have had only hope in Christ — 
no real redemption here, and no realiza- 
tion of the hope hereafter — then we are 
more to be pitied than all men, for our 
life here is one of ceaseless toil, extreme 
privation, and bitter persecution (iv. 9-13). 
This sentiment comes strangely from Paul, 
whom we should rather have expected to 
admit that a life lived in the spirit of 
Christ was, under any circumstances, pref- 
erable to every other. Perhaps, at bottom, 
in spite of his formal disclaimer, that was 
his real opinion : this utterance but em- 



bodies his passionate conviction that the^ 
hope he has cherished in Christ in this' 
life must be justified and fulfilled in the 
life to come. That can only be, if Christ 
is risen: but of this he is sure (ver. 20). 



The Far-reaching Significance of Christ's 
Resurrection (xv. 20-28). 

20-22. The previous paragraph had con- 
templated the terrible consequences for hu- 
manity, if the resurrection of Christ were 
not a fact. But it is a fact : as it is, Christ 
is risen (lit. hath been raised) from (the) 
dead, and from that fact the most momen- 
tous consequences flow. He is the founder 
of a new humanity, and His experience 
of resurrection will and must be shared 
by all who are united with Him. This 
thought is expressed under the imagery of 
a harvest: Christ is the first fruits of 
them that have fallen asleep — not nec- 
essarily all men, but the Christian dead, 
according to the ordinary usage of Koifiaadai 
(xi. 30) — their resurrection is guaranteed 
in His, as surely as the harvest in the 
first fruits (Lev. xxiii. 10 f.). Resurrec- 
tion comes as inevitably to those who are 
united to Him, as death to those who are 
united, as all men are, to Adam. To Paul, 
Christ and Adam are the two supreme Per- 
sons in the world's spiritual history — 
Adam, with whom came sin and death, 
and Christ who brought deliverance from 
both (Rom. v. 12 ff.). It is Man against 
Man. For since through (a) man there 
is death, through (a) man also there is 
the resurrection of the dead: for, as in 
(through their union with) Adam all die, 
so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 
Are we to understand that the latter all 
is universal, like the former? Docs Christ's 
resurrection guarantee the resurrection of 
all, or only of Christians^ In favor of 
the larger reference is the parallel form of 
the sentence : in that case, all would be 
raised to life, but only Christians to the 
final salvation. Probably, however, the ref- 
erence is really narrower : all /"// Adam, 
in union with and dependence upon him — 
that is, all men — die ; similarly all m 
Christ, in union with Him. live. The order 
of the Greek words may indeed be said 



Ch. XV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



107 



23 But every man in his own order: 
Christ the firstfruits ; afterward they that 
are Christ's at his coming. 

24 Then cometh the end, when he shall 
have delivered up the kingdom to God, 
even the Father ; when he shall have put 
down all rule, and all authority and power. 

25 For he must reign, till he hath put 
all enemies under his feet. 

26 The last enemy that shall be de- 
stroyed is death. 



27 For he hath put all things under his 
feet. But when he saith. All things are 
put under him, it is manifest that he is 
excepted, which did' put all things under 
him. 

28 And when all things shall be sub- 
dued unto him, then shall the Son also 
himself be subject unto him that put all 
things under him, that God may be all 
in all. 



to be against this interpretation ; but the 
preposition ^v seems to involve it, and the 
phrase in the next verse they that are 
Christ's almost settles the matter. The 
identity suggested between Christ and the 
" sleepers " by the word iirst fruits here 
becomes an even more inward thing: they 
are not merely like Him, but in Him, and 
His. 

23-26. But, because they are His, and 
in Him, they are in a sense separate 
from Him, in a different rank; therefore 
each in his own proper rank: as the 
first fruits Christ, then those that are 
Christ's will be made alive at His coming 
— their quickening is involved in (ev) His 
coming, and this probably Paul expected 
in the near future. Then is the end: when? 
and the end of what? Then (elra) appar- 
ently indicates a third stage, as the previous 
then (eireLTa) indicated the second, so that 
an interval is conceived as elapsing be- 
tween Christ's coming and the end. In 
Rev. XX. 4-6, this interval is filled up by 
the thousand year reign of Christ and be- 
lievers, and a similar thought, less definite, 
perhaps, may have been in Paul's mind 
here. The end is the end of history, when 
God's purpose shall have been consummated 
by the triumph of Christ, and He delivers 
the kingdom to Him who is God and 
Father — this is due to the Father from 
the Son — and has done away with (same 
word in xiii. 8 of prophecies and knowl- 
edge) every rule and every authority 
and power; especially perhaps is Paul here 
thinking of demonic powers. The goal of 
history is the absolute and undisputed 
triumph of Christ : for He must reign 
until He has, in the words of Ps. ex. i, 
put all enemies under His feet. The 
apostle clinches the Psalmist's words by 
the addition of all: even death, that most 
terrible enemy, must not escape (ver. 26). 
"Until He has put" — who? In the Psalm, 
God ; but not necessarily also here. The 
subject of the immediate context is Christ, 
so probably here : He is Conqueror and 
King. Death is the most redoubtable foe 
of humanity : it too must be conquered, if 



Christ's triumph is to be complete. He 
must not be king of a dead world. There- 
fore (as the) last enemy death is done 
away: the verb is in the present tense 
because the destruction of death, though 
future, is a certain fact. For, He (God) 
put ALL things, therefore death included, 
in subjection under His (Christ's) feet. 
In Psalm viii. 6, by w^hich these words 
are suggested, it is man, humanity, that 
is represented as having dominion over the 
world : the passage is here interpreted Mes- 
sianically, and applied to Christ. He is 
the son of man (Ps. viii. 4), and unchal- 
lenged dominion must be His. 

27, 28. Christ's triumph must indeed 
be absolute, " over every rule, authority, and 
power," but not over God. The goal of the 
great redemptive process is that God may 
be all in all; and therefore the Son, after 
subjecting all things to Himself, performs 
His crowding act by subjecting Himself to 
the Father. He subjected all things : but the 
words, " all things have been subjected,'* 
obviously do not include Him (God) 
who subjected all those things to Him. 
It is unfortunate that in so impassioned a 
context, the meaning should be disputed. 
The words mean literally: zuhen He (or 
it) says (or has said) (that) "all things 
hare been subjected," etc. Some refer the 
He to Christ, and regard the words all 
things have been subjected as solemnly ut- 
tered by Christ before handing over the 
kingdom to His Father, and crowning His 
work by subjecting Himself. This w^ould 
be a magnificent thought ; but more prob- 
ably the meaning is, " when God (that is, 
in the Psalm) or Scripture says, 'all things, 
etc' that is not meant to imply that God 
Himself is subjected." And when all 
things have been subjected to Him, then 
shall the Son (also), of His own accord 
(avTos) subject Himself to Him (i.e. to 
God) who subjected all things to Him. 
The triumph of Christ is for the glory of 
God. This is the real goal of histor}^ and 
therefore even Christ the Son must be 
subject to Him who is at once God and 
Father: but He subjects Himself volun- 



108 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XV 



29 Else what shall they do which are 
baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not 
at all? why are they then baptized for the 
dead? 

30 And why stand we in jeopardy every 
hour? 

31 I protest by your rejoicing which I 
have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 



32 If after the manner of men I have 
fought with beasts at Ephesus, what ad- 
vantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us 
eat and drink; for to-morrow we die. 

33 Be not deceived : evil communica- 
tions corrupt good manners. 

34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; 



tarily, and this in order that GOD may be 

all in all (lit. all things in all either things 
or persons), that is, that His dominion may 
pervade and interpenetrate everything. 

The argument here reaches an impas- 
sioned climax. Strict logic is left behind, 
and Paul is swept impetuously along by 
his exalted emotion, as he contemplates 
the risen Christ, victorious over every foe, 
consummating the great process of re- 
demption by the restoration of His people 
from death, and then Himself bowing in 
voluntary submission before the great God 
and Father, that He might be all in all. 
It is a most majestic conception of his- 
tory, upon which one instinctively pauses 
before the resumption of the more formal 
argument. 

The Resurrection Alone Explains Christian 
Practice and Conduct (xv. 29-34). 

29. Else — if there be no such thing as 
resurrection — what shall those do who 
receive baptism on behalf of the dead? 

This curious phrase has received a mul- 
titude of explanations; but the most ob- 
vious, and probably the correct one, ^ is 
that the reference is to a custom of having 
one's self baptized for the benefit of be- 
lievers who, for whatever reason, had died 
without baptism. The objection to this is 
that it seems to imply practically a magical 
conception of baptism, as though its effects 
could extend to and be appropriated by 
the dead ; and further it is argued that 
Paul could hardly have supported such a 
conception. In answer it may be said that 
there is no positive proof that Paul him- 
self did share this belief. He speaks in the 
third person: "what will they do?" — it 
is an argumentum ad hominem — he may 
even be said in ver. 30 by the emphatic zve 
(rifiels) to dissociate himself from the prac- 
tice alluded to in ver. 29. But it is per- 
haps hardly necessary to maintain even 
this. In the rite of baptism for the dead, 
the Christians appear to have been but 
imitating a similar Greek practice, in con- 
nection with the " mysteries," of initiation 
on behalf of the uninitiated dead, and Paul 
may have believed in the efficacy of such 
baptism by proxy. At any rate the practice 



of the Corinthians implies a belief in the 
resurrection, and is absurd if there is none : 
if dead men are not raised at all, why 
do they actually («at) receive baptism 
on their behalf? 

30-32a. Again, only the resurrection ex- 
plains the fidelity with which Paul daily 
faces danger and death. If there be no 
resurrection, why do we on our part incur 
danger every hour? and not only danger, 
but risk death : for I undergo a daily 
death, — we have already had a glimpse of 
the hardship and sorrows with which his 
career was replete (iv. 11-13: the apostles 
were as men doomed to death, iv. 9 : cf. 2 
Cor. xi. 23-27). He swears by the thing 
that is dearest to him, by the pride in 
you, brethren, which I have in (the 
sphere of) Christ Jesus our Lord. Some 
MSS. read "by my (v/neTepav, our) pride, 
vv^hich, etc." i.e., by my pride as a Chris- 
tian ; but the other (pride in their con- 
version), seems more effective. Were 
there no prospect of resurrection and future 
reward, what reason would there be for 
him, or any man. facing the terrors which 
he had faced? If in human fashion, im- 
pelled by no other desire than that of 
transient reward and glory, I fought vdth 
wild beasts at Ephesus, what is the profit 
to me? Unfortunately the reference can 
not be fixed with precision. It is hardly 
likely that he literally fought in the am- 
phitheatre as an armed gladiator with wild 
beasts : this would have been incompatible 
with his Roman citizenship, and such an 
episode would almost certainly have been 
mentioned in the book of Acts. More 
probably it refers to some danger to Avhich 
he was exposed from the mob, such as in 
the riot described in Acts xix, and per- 
haps in the enumeration of his sufferings 
in 2 Cor. xi. 23-29. He had certainly some 
terrible experiences at Ephesus (2 Cor. i. 
8f.), but of what nature we do not know. 
The poem quoted in Titus i. 12 calls the 
Cretans wild beasts. 

32b-34. There is no reward here but 
hardship and sorrow : if there be no reward 
hereafter, in other words, if the dead are 
not raised, then the all but universal in- 
ference will be, " Let us eat and drink, 
for to-morrow we die." — a quotation 
from Isaiah xxii. 13. If this were Paul's 



Ch. XV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



109 



for some have not the knowledge of God : 
I speak this to your shame. 

35 But some man will say, How are the 
dead raised up? and with what body do 
they come? 

36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest 
is not quickened, except it die : 

S7 And that which thou sowest, thou 
sowest not that body that shall be, but bare 
grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some 
other grain; 

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath 
pleased him, and to every seed his own 
body. 

39 All flesh is not the same flesh : but 



there is one kind of flesh of men, another 
flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and an- 
other of birds. 

40 There are also celestial bodies, and 
bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the 
celestial is one, and the glory of the ter- 
restrial is another. 

41 There is one glory of the sun, and 
another glory of the moon, and another 
glory of the stars; for one star differeth 
from another star in glory. 

42 So also is the resurrection of the 
dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised 
in incorruption : 



own conclusion, it would be open to the 
same criticism as ver. 19; for even if 
there were no resurrection, the sensual life 
would still be a tragic mistake. But prob- 
ably Paul would not himself have adopted 
this Epicurean conclusion. He is simply 
illustrating the influence of creed upon 
character. The creed of the Corinthians 
was affected by their heathen associations. 
They may have thought that mattered lit- 
tle : but do not be misled, for it matters 
much, it leads to the deterioration of char- 
acter — evil associations corrupt good dis- 
positions — an iambic Hne (with xP'n<^T'^ 
read as XPVO'^') of the comic poet Menan- 
der, which would not however prove that 
Paul was famihar with Greek literature, as 
the line would be in general circulation as 
a proverb. He concludes the argument, as 
often, with an exhortation, appealing to 
them, as intoxicated men, to awake (^k) 
to soberness (aor., of the moment) in true 
and proper fashion, and cease from sin 
(pres., of continued abstinence) — sins of 
unbelief and sensuality (ver. 32), whose 
ultimate root is ignorance of God: for 
despite the wisdom on which the Corin- 
thians pride themselves, some (nves) — 
those, for example, who deny the resur- 
rection (ver. 12; also rives) — are involved 
in (exovaiv) ignorance of God, especially 
of His power to quicken the dead (cf. Mat. 
xxii. 29). I speak to move you wise Co- 
rinthians to shame. 



The Nature of the Resurrection Body (xv. 
35-49)- 

Paul is well aware that his passionate 
argument may yet be inadequate to satisfy 
the deep-rooted scepticism of some of the 
Corinthians, to whom both the manner 
(ttws) of the resurrection, and the nature 
of the resurrection body (ttoioj) were alike 
inconceivable ; and he devotes this para- 
graph to a removal of these difficulties. 



showing that ordinary experience (crv) fur- 
nishes analogies to the resurrection body. 

35-38. But some objector will say, 
" How are the dead raised?" — his partic- 
ular difficulty centering in the nature of 
the resurrection — hence he asks, "With 
what sort of body do they come " upon 
the scene — with the body which was laid 
in the grave, or some other? The Greeks 
believed in a survival of personality, but 
not in a bodily resurrection at all: the 
Pharisees believed that the earthly body 
would be raised again. Paul assails both 
beliefs: there is a bodily resurrection, but 
it is not this body of tlesh and blood (ver. 
50) that is raised. And to stumble at the 
difficulties involved is foolish, and betrays 
one's incompetence to observe analogies. 
Foolish one, the thing that YOU sow — 
it lies within your own (o-v) experience, if 
you had only the wisdom (dcppcov) to read 
it — is not made alive unless it die: 
every sowing of seed involves the faith 
that life will issue out of death, so the 
resurrection need occasion no surprise. 
And the resurrection body, which is incon- 
ceivable to the objector, has its analogue 
also in the experience of the seed. As for 
what you sow, it is not the body that 
is to be that you sow, but something very 
different, a bare grain — naked, not yet 
clothed with the body that is to be — per- 
haps (for el Tvxoi, cf. xiv. 10) of wheat, 
or some of the other seeds. But GOD 
gives it in every case (pres.) a body. 
The nature of this body is determined by 
tht divine will at creation (rjdeXrjaep^ aor.). 
Gen. i. 11, it is as He willed, and it is 
in every case appropriate (i'Stoz^), to each 
seed a body of its own. The God who 
finds a body for the dead (ver. 36) seed, 
may surely be trusted to find an appropriate 
body for the dead man. 

39-42. The point is now elaborated, that 
the body is appropriate to the nature. 
Animals are alike in being flesh ; but all 



110 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XV 



43 It is sown in dishonour, it is raised 
in glory : it is sown in weakness, it is 
raised in power : * 

44 It is sown a natural body, it is 
raised a spiritual body. There is a natural 
body, and there is a spiritual body. 

45 And so it is written, The first man 



Adam was made a living soul; the last 
Adam zuas made a quickening spirit. 

46 Howbeit that was not first which is 
spiritual, but that which is natural ; and 
afterward that which is spiritual. 

47 The first man is of the earth, earthy : 
the second man is the Lord from heaven. 



flesh is not the same flesh, it differs as 
does the animal. But there is one flesh 
of men, another flesh of beasts, another 
flesh of birds, another of fishes. And 
this appropriateness of body to nature ex- 
tends throughout the universe : it is mani- 
fested in the Jieavens as well as on the 
earth. Celestial bodies also there are, 
and terrestrial bodies. It is doubtful 
whether the celestial bodies are to be ex- 
plained as the sun, moon, and stars (as 
in next verse), or whether we are to 
think of the bodies of angels (ver. 47, the 
man from heaven) ; the former seems the 
more probable. But the glory of the ce- 
lestial is of one kind, that of the terres- 
trial another — again the law of propriety. 
And within each sphere this law holds : as 
animals differ in Hesh, so do the heavenly 
bodies in glory, splendor : there is one 
glory of the sun, and another glory of 
the moon, and another glory of the 
stars, for star differs from star in glory. 
SO ALSO is the resurrection of the 
dead. This is the climax of the argument 
at this point. Everywhere throughout the 
universe the law of propriety reigns : it is 
this that explains nature's infinite Variety : 
so also is it in the resurrection, which 
the Corinthians find so hard to under- 
stand. The resurrection body .will be 
different from this body, and will be ap- 
propriate to the resurrection state, which 
he soon explains as a spiritual 9»tate 
(^TTPevfiariKov) , 

42-44. The contrast between the two 
states is now strikingly stated in a sort 
of rhythmical form : 

It is sown in corruption, it is assuredly 
(prcs.) raised in incorruption; 

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in 
glory: 

It is sown in weakness, it is raised in 
power. 

From the reference to the glory of 
the resurrection body, it is clear that Paul 
is dealing only with " those that are 
Christ's" (ver. 23). The present and the 
future state are trenchantly characterized 
each by three epithets. If the sozving be 
taken to refer to burial (cf. ver. 36) then 
the first three concentrate pathetic atten- 
tion upon the dead body. Others, how- 



ever, have referred the Sowing to birth. 
Though this is improbable, the reference 
is perhaps not exclusively to burial : the 
epithets suggest the law of weakness and 
corruption to which all our earthly life is 
subject. The resurrection body is ever 
fresh and fair and strong. The pith of 
the contrast is contained in the last state- 
ment : 

It is sown a natural (or animal) body, 
it is raised a spiritual body. A similar 
contrast between the natural and spiritual 
has already been drawn in ii, 14, 15. We 
have unfortunately no word which exactly 
corresponds to ^vxi-xov. The psychic body 
is one which is governed by the "^^XV, the 
principle of " the sensuous and transitory 
life." It is the " inner side of the flesh " 
(Bousset), and is opposed to the spiritual 
body, which is governed by the irpeOfia^ the 
supernatural principle, and the guarantee of 
eternal life. The contrast is roughly that 
between our material and spiritual, natural 
and supernatural. This then is the answer 
to the sceptical question raised in ver. 35. 
The body in which the dead come is not 
their earthly body, but a spiritual, super- 
natural bod}^, appropriate to the future state. 
If (reading el) there exists a natural 
body (a body adapted to the i^^'xv), there 
exists also a spiritual body (a body 
adapted to the trveviia) \ tlie law of cor- 
respondence makes the one as credible as 
the other. 

45-47. Paul finds the contrast upon 
which he is insisting, anticipated or at least 
suggested, by Gen. ii. 7 — and man became 
a living soul; for the sake of his contrast 
between Adam and Christ, he adds to man 
" first " and " Adam." So also it stands 
written, " The first man Adam became 
a living soul;" the last Adam a life- 
giving spirit. Adam and Christ as the 
leaders of the two humanities have al- 
ready been contrasted (ver. 22). Paul 
reads his own meaning into the Greek 
word 4^1'XV ; Adam is the representative, 
the inaugurator, of life on its psychic, ma- 
terial side. And just as surely is Christ 
the inaugurator of spiritual life. He be- 
came not soul, but spirit, and not simply 
a living spirit, but a life-gii'ing spirit (ver. 
36) : " in Him shall all be made alive '* 



Ch. XV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



Ill 



48 As is the earthy, such are they also 
that are earthy : and as is the heavenly, 
such are they also that are heavenly. 

49 And as we have borne the image of 
the earthy, we shall also bear the image 
of the heavenly. 

50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh 
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of 
God ; neither doth corruption inherit in- 
corruption. 



51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We 
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be 
changed. 

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an 
eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet 
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised 
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

53 For this corruptible must put on in- 
corruption, and this mortal must put on 
immortality. 



(ver. 22). The whole drift of the argu- 
ment suggests that Christ attained this 
power at and by His resurrection. But 
this relation of Christ to Adam is in ac- 
cordance with the general principle that 
the spiritual is not first, but the natural, 
and then the spiritual. And as Adam and 
Christ dififer thus in nature, so do they 
differ in body. The first man is of the 
earth, made of the dust: the translation 
*'of the earth, earthy" suggests to the 
English reader that the Greek noun and 
adjective are cognate. This is not so: 
XOLKos is meant to recall xo^J" (dust) of 
Gen. ii. 7. In contrast with the man " of 
the dust," the second man is of heaven. 
Strictly speaking, the conception here is 
local (cf. e|), but the context seems to 
necessitate the larger reference to Christ's 
heavenly nature : He has a heavenly, imma- 
terial, spiritual body. 

48-49. Those two Men are the repre- 
sentatives of types ; and as is the man of 
the dust, such are also the men of the 
dust; and as is the heavenly man, such 
also are the heavenly men. The types 
share the nature of their leader. And as 
we wore the image, the outward and 
bodily form, of the man of dust, we shall 
also wear the glorious image of the 
heavenly Christ. Instead of (popiao^iev^ 
many good MSS. read (popeacvfxev, let us 
wear; but the moral appeal is rather irrele- 
vant here. Paul is here concluding and 
summarizing his argument for the possi- 
bility and nature of the resurrection body. 



Death is Szvallowed up in Victory (xv. 
50-58). 

50. One question remains. Analogies 
have been offered to show that the resur- 
rection body will differ from the earthly 
body : how will the change be effected ? 
Before this question is touched, however, 
the argument thus far is briefly summarized. 
Now this I affirm (cf. vii. 29), brethren, 
that flesh and blood, that is, our animal, 
material bodies, cannot inherit the king- 



dom of God, which is a spiritual realm ; 
nor, in the nature of things (pres. ind.), 
does corruption (ver. 42) inherit incor- 
ruption. The material has no claim by 
inheritance upon the spiritual : the two 
spheres are different. And not only is an- 
other body conceivable (w. 35 f.), it is 
necessary, 

5I-53* Paul's understanding of the tran- 
sition from the one body to the other, he 
claims to have received through revela- 
tion. Behold — what he is about to say 
deserves special attention — I tell you a 
mystery, dark to the uninitiated, revealed 
to him: we shall not all sleep (i.e. die, 
cf. xi. 30), but we shall all be changed. 
In imagining that some would be alive 
(not all asleep) at the coming of Christ, 
Paul clearly expects that coming soon : but 
as that expectation was not fulfilled, the 
negative is found transferred in some MSS. 
from the first clause to the second, thus 
turning Trdvres {fJiev) ov Koi/ji,T]67](T6fj.€da, TrdvTes 
5e dWayrjaS/xeda into irdi^res (fxef) KOL/jLTjO-rjao/xeda^ 
ov TT. 8. d\\, (life shall all die, but we 
shall not all be changed). As the present 
body is not fit for the future world, all 
— not only_ the dead (as is natural), but 
also the living — shall be changed in a mo- 
ment so brief as to be indivisible (drSfxu)) ^ 
in the twinkling of an eye, at (lit. in, to 
the accompaniment of) the last trumpet 
(cf. I Thes. iv. 16), the trumpet (asso- 
ciated with the divine appearance in Exod. 
xix. 16) which brings history to an end 
(cf. Mat. xxiv. 31). For the trumpet 
shalL sound, and the dead shall be raised 
incorruptible and therefore fit for the eter- 
nal world, and we w^ho are alive shall be 
changed. And change is necessary ; for, 
because there is no place there for flesh 
and blood, this corruptible must put on 
incorruption and this mortal must put on 
immortality. The change is a putting on, 
as of a garment. In the double tovto 
(this), Paul may be thinking of his own 
poor body, daily exposed to hardship (iv. 
9^13) and death (xv. 31). For the glory 
of the blessed, cf. Dan. xii. 3, and for their 
fair robes. Rev. iii. 4, vi. 11, vii. 9. 



112 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XV 



54 So when this corruptible shall have 
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall 
have put on immortality, then shall be 
brought to pass the sayii^g that is written, 
Death is swallowed up in victory. 

55 O death, where is thy sting? O 
grave, where is thy victory? 

56 The sting of death is sin ; and the 
strength of sin is the law. 



57 But thanks be to God, which giveth 
us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be 
ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding 
in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye 
know that your labour is not in vain in 
the Lord. 



54. Already, in ver. 53, Paul's words 
have begun to take on a rhythmic and 
poetic swing, which develops in the next 
four verses into a triumphant hymn of 
praise. But when this corruptible shall 
have put on incorruption (this clause is 
rejected from the text of Westcott and 
Hort, and may be a conformation to ver. 
53 ; but its attestation is good, and its echo 
of ver. 53 adds to the solemnity of the 
passage) and this mortal shall have put 
on immortality — in the moment of that 
swift and solemn change — then shall come 
to pass the ancient prophetic word that is 
written in Isaiah xxv. 8, " Death was 
swallowed up so as to issue in (els) vic- 
tory." The words in Isaiah, as now 
pointed, read " He hath swallowed up death 
for ever." The Greek translation unto vic- 
tory put the Aramaic meaning upon the 
Hebrew words forever: but the essential 
meaning is not altered — death is utterly 
destroyed. 

55. The thought of the destruction of 
death by the victory of Christ kindles Paul 
to the most exalted enthusiasm. He turns 
defiantly to death, and asks, in an adapta- 
tion of the words of Hosea (xiii. 14). 
" O Death, where is thy victory? O 
Death, where is thy sting?" In their 
original context in Hosea, the words ap- 
pear to have a very different meaning : 
the powers of death are summoned to 
crush impenitent Israel. " Hither, O 
death, with thy plagues ! Hither, O Sheol 
(so in some- MSS. of Cor. Hades in sec- 
ond clause) with thy destruction; for pity 
is hidden from mine eyes." Paul is here 
guided as usual (though not always: the 
Greek version of Is. xxv. 8, just quoted, 
reads, " death has prevailed and swallowed 
[men] up") by the Septuagint. 

56. 57. Death is like a giant scorpion 
with a sting: now the sting of death is 
sin — it was this that brought death into 
the world (Rom. v. 12 ff.), and the fear 
of judgment for sin increases the sting 
and the horror of death — and the power 
of sin is the law, for through the law 
came the knowledge of sin, in all its por- 
tentous power, as disobedience (cf. Rom. 



vii. 7 ff.. Gal. iii. 19). But the power of 
the law, sin, and death are broken by the 
resurrection victory of Christ, and that vic- 
tory is shared by those that are His. 
Thanks be unto God who giveth us the 
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Our victory over death is a gift, of God, 
won through Christ; and though yet en- 
joyed only in foretaste, it is sure (hence 
pres. didopTi), The great Victor is sol- 
emnly named in full — our Lord Jesus 
Christ — and with this shout of triumphant 
gratitude the splendid argument closes. 

58. But to Paul Christian hope is an 
inspiration to duty, and it is highly char- 
acteristic and significant that he draws 
from his great argument a practical con- 
clusion. So then, my beloved brethren, 
show yourselves steadfast, immovable, 
unshaken by sceptical assaults upon the res- 
urrection (vv. 12, 35) — for it is sure — 
and not only in belief unshaken, but in con- 
duct also fruitful, abounding evermore in 
the work of the Lord, that which He 
gives His servants to do (cf. xvi. i), inas- 
much as ye are fully aware (especially 
after Paul's long and persuasive argument), 
that your toil is not empty in the Lord, 
as it would be if there were no resurrection 
(cf. vv. 19, 32). Work done /;/ the Lord, 
in fellowship with the risen and triumphant 
Christ, cannot be vain, it has a sure place in 
the eternal world (cf. ver. 22b). 



The long, sustained, and glowing argu- 
ment of Paul for the resurrection shows 
how vital he felt it to be to Christian faith 
and life (cf. vv. 14, 17), and it is worthy 
of note that he begins his argument by 
building it upon evidence. The Christian 
faith is not a pious imagination, it rises 
out of the facts ; and though certain phases 
of Christianity have tried to shake them- 
selves free of history, the Christianity of 
the New Testament rests upon facts, and 
could not have been, if they had never been. 
The belief in the resurrection rests upon 
the fact. He was seen (ver. 5). 

We to-day still share the curiosity of the 
Corinthians who asked: how are the dead 



Ch. XV] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



113 



raised? and Paul's answer, though not ex- 
haustive, is still suggestive. What a spir- 
itual body is, we may not be able to im- 
agine; but, at any rate, it remains true that 
our future condition, like our present, will 
be adapted to our environment. That is 
the essence of Paul's argument. The future 
body will not be this earthly one, but an- 
other : we shall he changed. 

Again, the power of creed to influence 
conduct is several times suggested in the 
course of the discussion. Behef in the res- 



urrection nerves a man to fight with wild 
beasts (ver. 32) and to abound in all good 
and beneficent work (ver. 58). Persecution 
may be bravely borne, and work greatly 
done by one, who has, like Paul, the 
glorious vision of Christ victorious over 
death, appearing to dehver the kingdom 
into His Father's hands (ver. 24), secur- 
ing, by His victory, a like victory for us 
(ver. 57), and for our work a permanent 
place in the eternal order (ver. 58). 



114 



I COEINTHIANS, 



[Ch. XVI 



CONCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS, SALUTATIONS, AND 
BENEDICTION (xvi). 



CHAPTER i6. 

1 Now concerning the collection for the 
saints, as I have given order to the 
churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 

2 Upon the first day of the week let 
every one of you lay by him in store, as 
God hath prospered him, that there be no 
gatherings when I come. 

3 And when I come, whomsoever ye 
shall approve by your letters, them will I 
send to bring your liberality unto ^Jeru- 
salem. 

4 And if it be meet that I go also, they 
shall go with me. 



5 Now I will come unto you, when I 
shall pass through Macedonia : for I do 
pass through Macedonia. 

6 And it may be that I will abide, yea, 
and winter with you, that ye may bring me 
on my journey whithersoever I go. 

7 For I will not see you now by the 
way ; but I trust to tarry a while with you, 
if the Lord permit. 

8 But I will tarry at Ephesus until 
Pentecost. 

9 For a great door and effectual is 
opened unto me, and there are many ad- 
versaries. 



The Collection for the Jerusalem Poor 
(xvi. -1-4). 

I, 2. Fresh from his great argument for 
the resurrection, Paul immediately enjoins 
upon the Corinthians the practical duty of 
contributing to the financial support of the 
poor Christians at Jerusalem (cf. Rom. 
XV. 26, 31) Now concerning the collec- 
tion for the saints (rrepl 5e, cf. vii. i, viii. 
I, xii. I : Paul's advice on this point had 
probably been asked). This seems a violent 
transition from the exalted theme of ch. 
XV. but the connection is most intimate : 
This is part of the zvork of the Lord (xv. 
58), which is to be done, like all Christian 
work, in the inspiration of the resurrection 
hope. The church at Jerusalem seems to 
have been particularly poor, and the burden 
of their support was largely laid upon the 
Gentile churches (cf. Gal. ii. 10). Under 
the stimulus of Paul, contributions were 
organized among these churches (cf. Rom. 
XV. 26), which were perhaps intended 
partly to strengthen the bond between the 
Gentile and the Jewish churches (cf. 2 Cor. 
ix. 12-14). As I gave order to the 
churches of Galatia — of this order we 
have no record — so also do ye. The plan 
suggested is a revelation of Paul's instinct 
for practical affairs. On every (Kara) 
first day of the week, not yet regularly 
known as the Lord's day (Rev. i. 10), let 
each of you lay something by him, mak- 
ing a store of it, whatever he may be 
prospered in, that, when I come, there 
may not THEN be collections going on. 
In Acts XX. 7, the church mect,^ on the 
first day of the week: from the injunction 
here to each man to lay up by himself, we 
may infer that there was then no collec- 



tion at the church services. The advice is 
pointed and practical : each one, poor as 
well as rich ; regularly, on every first day 
of the week, the day when the thought 
of the resurrection of Christ (xv.) should 
touch men's hearts to peculiar gratitude : 
the regular accumulation of even a small 
weekly sum would make a store: and the 
gift was to be a reasonable one, in propor- 
tion to the prosperity which God had 
granted a man. The collection is to be 
ready when Paul arrived — his precious 
time must be given to other matters. 

3, 4. The collection was to be taken to 
Jerusalem by approved Corinthian dele- 
gates. And on my arrival, those dele- 
gates whom you may approve, I shall 
send with (lit. by means of) letters to 
carry your gift to Jerusalem. Paul 
wishes to be free of even the shadow of 
suspicion (2 Cor. viii. 20) ; hence his sug- 
gestion of delegates. Westcott and Hort 
put a comma after 5t' evicrToXuiv, — " ivhom 
ye approve by letters " rather than " / will 
send with letters :" but there would be lit- 
tle point in the approval by letter, after 
Paul had already arrived. But if it is 
worth my while to go too, they shall 
go with me: if the gift is a creditable 
one, — but not unless — Paul will accompany 
the deputation, or rather they him. In 
both clauses he gently, but firmly, asserts 
his dignity — dignity without pride. 



Plans for Travelling (xvi. 5-<)). 

5-9. But I will come to you, when I 
shall have passed through Macedonia, 
for T am to pass through Macedonia, but 
with you people of Corinth I shall per- 



Ch. XVI] 



I CORINTHIANS. 



115 



10 Now if Timotheus come, see that he 
may be with you without fear : for he 
worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. 

11 Let no man therefore despise him: 
but conduct him forth in peace, that he may 
come unto m^e : for I look for him with the 
brethren. 

12 As touching our brother Apollos, I 
greatly desired him to come unto you with 
the brethren : but his will was not at all to 
come at this time ; but he will come when 
he shall have convenient time. 

13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, 
quit you like men, be strong. 

14 Let all your things be done with 
charity. 



15 I beseech you, brethren, (ye know 
the house of Stephanas, that it is the first- 
fruits of Achaia, and that they have ad- 
dicted themselves to the ministry of the 
saints,) 

16 That ye submit yourselves unto such, 
and to every one that helpeth with us, and 
laboureth. 

17 I am glad of the coming of Steph- 
anas and Fortunatus and Achaicus : for 
that which was lacking on your part they 
have supplied. 

18 For they have refreshed my spirit 
and yours : therefore acknowledge ye 
them that are such. 



haps stay, or even spend the winter, — 

in point of fact he spent three months in 
Greece (Acts xx. 3) — that YOU may 
send me off upon any journey that I may 
take — Jerusalem and even Rome were at 
this time in his thoughts (Acts xix. 21). 
He does not go direct by the sea route 
from Ephesus to Corinth, but first to 
Macedonia, and then south. Yoii, is in both 
cases emphatic : he honors the Corinthians 
by looking to them for his " send-off." 
For I do not wish to see you now merely 
in passing, as I should were I to go to 
Macedonia via Corinth; for I am hoping 
to stay with you some length of time, 
should th& Lord (probably Christ, rather 
than God) permit (cf. iv. 19). But I 
shall stay on in Ephesus till Pentecost 
— Whitsuntide : he is writing probably in 
early spring. For a door — an opportunity 
for preaching the gospel (Col. iv. 3 ; 2 Cor. 
ii. 12) — great and effectual, is open to 
me, and opponents there are many. 
Paul's reasons for remaining on are char- 
acteristic, — a great opportunity and great 
opposition : how great the opposition may 
be measured by the riot which compelled 
him to leave (Acts xix). 



Concerning Timothy and Apollos (xvi. 10^ 
' 12). 

lo-ii. If Timothy, whom Paul had 
sent to Corinth (iv. 17) by way of Mace- 
donia (Acts xix. 22) with Erastus, should 
come, see that he be with you without 
fear — he was young and may have been 
timid, especially in view of the Corinthian 
factions and turbulence — for he is doing 
the work of the Lord (xv. 58) like my- 
self. Let no man therefore despise him, 
but send him off in peace, without strife 
and contention, that he may come to me, 



for I am expecting him with the brethren 

— either the brethren (some besides Eras- 
tus, Acts xix. 22) with Timothy, or " I 
with the brethren," i.e. the Corinthian 
delegates. 

12. But concerning Apollos whom he 
finely recognizes as the brother, not a 
rival (i. 12), I earnestly entreated him to 
come to you with the brethren who 
would carry Paul's letter to Corinth (cf. 
ver. 17) : but ApoUos's delicate feeling, in 
view of the partisan spirit in Corinth, de- 
terred him: and there was no will' at all 
on his part to come now: he will come, 
however, when he has a good oppor- 
tunity. This verse reflects the utmost 
credit on both Paul and Apollos, who, 
despite the Corinthian party cries, were on 
the best of terms. 



Injunction, Entreaty, and Thanksgiving 
(xvi. 13-18). 

13-14. The abrupt admonitions that fol- 
low have a startling effect, and serve to 
remind the Corinthians of their besetting 
weaknesses. Watch — they were careless, 
asleep : stand in the faith (cf. xv. 58) — 
their faith, e.g. in the resurrection had been 
unsettled (xv. 12, 35) : play the man, not 
the baby (xiv. 20) : show yourselves vig- 
orous, not flabby; let all your (doings) 
be done in love — that is to be the atmos- 
phere and inspiration of all activity (xiii). 

15-18. Now I beseech you, brethren: 
ye know the house of Stephanas — which 
Paul had baptized _(i. 16) —that (disre- 
garding one or two isolated converts, Acts 
xvii. 34) it is the first fruits of Achaea 
(as Epaenetus was of Asia, Rom. xvi. 5), 
and that they set themselves to minister 
to the saints — apparently the family was 
well to do : I beseech you, then, that you 



116 



I CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XVI 



19 The churches of Asia salute you. | 22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus 
Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in ! Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran atha. 
the Lord, with the church that is in their 23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 



house. 

20 All the brethren greet you. Greet 
ye one another with a holy kiss. 

21 The salutation of me Paul with mine 
own hand. 



be with you. 

24 My love be with you all in Christ 
Jesus. Amen. 



on your part (Kai) subject yourselves to 
such — there was little organization as yet 
(cf. xii. 28), but such were the men who 
deserved to be recognized as leaders (here 
we may find the office of deacon in em- 
bryo, cf. Rom. xvi. i) — and to every one 
that joins in the work and toils. And I 
rejoice at the presence of Stephanas and 
Fortunatus. and Achaicus (of whom we 
know nothing), because the lack of you 
these brethren supplied, for they re- 
freshed my spirit and yours. The Corin- 
thians will themselves be refreshed to hear 
that their delegates have refreshed Paul. 
" That which was lacking on your part " 
does not seem so relevant here for to vjx, 
vaT€pr]/j.a as the lack of you, i.e. your so- 
ciety (on my part). Acknowledge then 
and honor men like these. 



Parting Salutations (xvi. 19-24). 

19-20. The churches of Asia — the 

lands on the western shores of Asia Minor 
— salute you. " All who call on the name 
of our Lord Jesus Christ " (i. 2) are 
brethren. Aquila and Prisca (cf. Rom. 
xvi. 3) or Priscilla, whom Paul had first 
met at Corinth (Acts xviii. 2), and with 
whom he had subsequently gone to Ephesus 
(Acts xviii. 18 f.), salute you earnestly 
in the Lord, with the church that is at 
their house, which they had put at the 
disposal of the Christians for their meet- 
ings. All the brethren in Ephesus salute 
you. Salute one another with a holy 



kiss, llie kiss of friendship was specially 
appropriate among Christians : to them it 
has a sacred meaning, it is a holy kiss. It 
came in course of time to be abused. 

21-24. Paul now takes the pen from his 
amanuensis (cf. Rom. xvi. 22) and adds a 
brief, but impassioned postscript (cf. 2 
Thes. iii. 17, Gal. vi. 11). The salutation 
of me Paul, with my own hand. If any 
man has no affection for the Lord, let 
him be anathema, devoted to destruction ; 
for without love to Christ there can be no 
true or fruitful Christian activity of any 
kind. Marana tha, i.e. O (or our) Lord, 
come: this seems better than to read 
" Maran atha," The (or our) Lord has 
come (i.e. in the flesh : but better inter- 
preted as prophetic perf : will assuredly 
come). The prayer Lord, come would be 
common (cf. Rev. xxii. 20) among those 
who hoped for and believed in the speedy 
advent of Jesus. Like Abba the Aramaic 
words may have been caught from the 
early disciples, and would probably be fa- 
miliar to Greeks. The prayer here adds a 
terrible earnestness to the preceding im- 
precation ; and by the removal of the 
enemies of Christ, the way is prepared for 
the benediction — the grace of the Lord 
Jesus be with you. And as censure and 
reproof had necessarily formed a large part 
of this epistle, Paul tactfully and tenderly 
adds: my love be (or is) with you all 
— not with the Pauline or any other party 
only (i. 12) — in Christ Jesus; his love 
for the Cor. is not merely natural affection, 
Christ is its foundation and sphere. 



SECOND EPISTLE TO THE 
CORINTHIANS. 



117 



SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 

Introduction. 

It is unfortunate that the epistle which is in many ways the most interest- 
ing, as it is the most biographical, of all the epistles of Paul, should be 
beset by numerous problems which, with the meager data at our disposal, 
are practically insoluble. In the New Testament as in the Old, we suffer 
from the fragmicntary nature of our sources. Histories, prophecies, gospels, 
epistles were written primarily for ancient readers, not for us who are afar 
off both in time and place ; and what to us, in our ignorance of the con- 
temporary situation, is and must for ever remain obscure or uncertain, to 
them, with their knowledge of that situation, must have been often not 
only intelligible, but obvious. But, by its very constitution, the human mind 
is governed by the desire to ascertain the sequences of history, to discover 
the interrelations of recorded facts ; and where the records are meager, 
there is a natural impulse to fill up, by conjecture or by the use of the 
historical imagination, the gaps which the scanty material at our disposal 
permits us to fill up in no other way. We must only beware of assuming 
that our conjecture has the value of certainty. 

In the interval between the despatch of the first and second epistles of 
Paul to the Corinthians, many things of grave importance must have 
happened ; but these we are left to infer mostly from the data furnished 
by the epistles themselves ; and, as is proved by the perplexing variety of 
opinion among scholars who have given the epistles the most minute and 
careful attention, and even by the modifications which some have been 
constrained to make upon their own earlier opinions, those data are capable 
of widely different interpretations. The one thing that stands out clear 
and indisputable is that the situation implied by the second epistle is much 
more intense than that of the first. The first is relatively calm, the second 
is tempestuous. There are hints in the first that Paul's authority and 
apostleship have been challenged (ix. i f.) : in the second, the denials of 
that authority have become explicit and vehement (x.-xiii.), and are sup- 
ported by the basest insinuations (xii. i6 ff.). In the first, he is criticized 
(iv. 3), in the second, he is attacked. The spirit of faction has grown in 
the interval to enormous proportions, but it has changed its form. The 
watchwords " I am of Cephas, I am of Apollos," are no longer heard ; but 

118 



INTEODUCTIOK 119 



men who claim to be Christ's (cf. i Cor. i. 12) have set themselves with 
virulence to undermine the apostle's influence (2 Cor. x. 7). 

This party, whose leaders at any rate with their letters of recommenda- 
tion (iii. i) no doubt hailed from Jerusalem, were the propagandists of an 
intense and narrow Judaistic Christianity. Their methods were different 
from those of the propagandists in Galatia, for they have nothing to say 
about circumcision — perhaps they felt the irrelevance of this in the free 
atmosphere of Greece — but, for that very reason, their assault was all the 
more plausible, and, judging from the vehemence with which Paul repels 
it, it is clear that he recognized in it a grave menace to his own work. 
Everywhere he went, his steps were dogged by these men, who refused to 
do any pioneer missionary work of their own, but who stepped in to appro- 
priate results ready to their hand (x. 16) wrought by the indefatigable 
toil of Paul, and then to pervert those results in the interests of their small 
and bigoted views of Christianity. 

This development between the two epistles is as good as certain, but 
was there anything else? The letter begins with great emotion, in which 
we may see reflected some of the perilous and crucial experiences through 
which Paul has been recently passing. At Ephesus, which he had left not 
long before, he had been face to face with death (i. 8) ; the situation, 
whatever it was, had been a desperate one, and it was only by the miracu- 
lous deliverance of God that he had come out of it alive. He had pushed 
on to Troas ; and eager as he was to win men for the gospel in season 
and out of season, and splendid as was the opportunity afforded by Troas 
(ii. 12), he was so nervous and excited because he did not, as he had 
hoped, meet Titus there, that he could not wait in Troas, but hastened 
on to meet him in Macedonia, from one of whose cities — possibly Thes- 
salonica — he despatched this letter to Corinth (cf. ix. 2). The news which 
Titus brought him was so reassuring that he bursts into a song of triumph 
at the very recollection of it (ii. 14 ff.). His torn soul was comforted and 
gladdened not only by the presence of Titus, but by the story he had to 
tell of the penitence and zeal of the Corinthians (vii. 6 f.). 

Now why was Paul filled with such trepidation at the approach of Titus, 
so anxious about the news he would bring from Corinth? Clearly the sit- 
uation in Corinth was specially critical: to what was it due? In vii. 8 f. 
it is connected with a letter of Paul's, couched apparently in terms so severe, 
that afterwards he regretted having written it, though his regret was turned 
into joy when he saw how effective it had been in leading the Corinthians 
to repentance. This letter is described in ii. 4 as having been written out 
of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears. The question 
is, Where are we to look for this letter and what were its contents? 



120 INTRODUCTION. 



Perhaps the natural impulse is at once to identify it with the first canonical 
epistle to the Corinthians ; but as against this, it must not be forgotten that 
in all probability, several letters would pass between Paul and the Corin- 
thians. One, which has not been preserved, is alluded to in i Cor. v. 9 ; and 
his opponents admit that his letters are impressive (2 Cor. x. 10). The real 
question is, whether the first epistle answers to the description given in chs. 
ii. and vii. As this is absolutely denied by some scholars, and maintained 
by others to be perfectly possible, the question comes to be largely one of 
our conception of probability. Would Paul, we have to ask, be likely to 
regret having written so noble a letter as the first epistle ? and is it reasonable 
to suppose that that letter could have been written with anguish and tears? 
These terms certainly seem strong, if used of the first epistle ; but are they 
too strong? While there is much in that epistle that could be described 
as " calm and kindly," there are passages which so ethically sensitive a man 
as Paul must have written with keen emotion, especially those which deal 
with the incestuous man, with the carrying of cases before the heathen courts, 
and wath the heinousness of immorality (v., vi : cf. xv. 34). With regard 
to the other point, perhaps we ought not to press too vigorously the statement 
that Paul regretted having written it; such words rise readily to his open, 
afifectionate heart (2 Cor. vi. 11) especially now that he has been cheered 
by the news of their repentance, and he may mean no more than that he 
regretted the pain his letter had given them. It cannot be said, however, 
that, so far as these allusions go, the case for the identification of the letter 
with First Corinthians is overwhelmingly convincing. At most, it is possible ; 
before we can say whether it is probable or not, we shall have to consider 
the contents of the letter. 

On the strength of the letter, the Corinthians, at least the majority of 
them (ii. 6), appear to have severely punished some one who had done wrong 
(vii. II, 12) — so severely indeed that Paul now interposes on his behalf, 
asks them to forgive and comfort him, and confirm their love towards 
him (ii. 7, 8). Who can the offender be? If the letter written with tears 
be the first epistle to the Corinthians, then the offender will naturally be 
the incestuous man of ch. v. In that chapter, Paul in the severest terms 
(cf. ver. 5) had insisted upon his excommunication. But, as there was 
already disaffection in the air, fomented still further by the malevolence 
of his Judaistic opponents, he may well have cherished the gravest doubts 
as to the readiness of the Corinthians to acknowledge his authority and 
comply with his request; and, now that Titus brings back the news of 
tlieir quickened moral sense, and of their zeal for the purity of the church 
as shown by the punishment of the offender: now that they have proved 
themselves to be pure in the matter (vii. 11), and obedient to him in all 



INTRODUCTION. 121 



things (ii. 9), he is more than overjoyed, and, as the offender himself has 
shown signs of the deepest contrition (ii. 7), Paul is as eager now to have 
him reinstated as he formerly was to have him excommunicated. 

But the identification of the offender of 2 Cor. with the incestuous per- 
son of I Cor. becomes less certain when we look more closely at the 
description of him. Paul declares in vii. 12 that he wrote the letter " not 
for the sake of him who did the wrong," whereas, according to i Cor. v. 
5, it was precisely for his sake — " that the spirit may be saved in the day 
of the Lord Jesus." The references to the offender in ii. 5-10 make it 
at least possible that it is Paul whom he has offended : Paul and not the 
father, whose wife he had taken, would be the man who has " suffered the 
wrong" (vii. 12). Paul apparently has good reason to feel specially ag- 
grieved (ii. 5), but though most deeply wounded, he has already most 
freely and fully forgiven. This has given rise to the idea that on some 
recent visit to Corinth (to be discussed afterwards) Paul had been grossly 
insulted by some one, and had afterwards demanded reparation in a letter 
written with anguish and tears ; the demand had been so zealously acceded 
to by the now penitent congregation that Paul prays for clemency for the 
offender, and offers him his own forgiveness. In favor of this view, it is 
urged that Paul could not have spoken of the offender as leniently as he 
does, had his crime been that of incest : the stern and solemn sentence of 
excommunication appropriate to such a crime could not have been so 
swiftly and completely reversed. But the argument is hasty. The sinner 
was clearly not indifferent to the verdict pronounced upon him, there is a 
danger that he may be *' swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow " (ii. 7) ; 
and sincere penitence would most naturally be met by complete forgive- 
ness, which Paul bestows as ''in the presence of Christ" (ii. 10). In a 
true sense, the real object of the excommunication was "neither for the 
sake of him that did or suffered wrong" (vii. 12), but the preservation 
or rather the rehabiHtation of the purity of the church (vii. 11, i Cor. v. 7), 
the deepening of the consciousness of its spiritual obligations. It cannot 
be said then that the allusions to the offender are altogether inconsistent 
with the idea that he is the incestuous person of i Cor. v, and this again 
would greatly heighten the probability that the letter written with tears 
was the first epistle to the Corinthians. 

The complicated questions raised by the allusions to the " letter " are 
still more gravely complicated by allusions to his visits to Corinth. In spite 
of the slender doubt that attaches to the somewhat ambiguous phrase " this 
is the third time / am ready to come to you" (xii. 14) — it is reasonably 
certain that before he wrote the second epistle he had already been in 
Corinth twice, and is now contemplating a third visit (xiii. i), which he 



122 INTRODUCTION. 



carried out (Acts xx. 2 f.), — indeed he writes this epistle on the way (ix. 2, 
Acts XX. I ) . He says expressly — the language is capable of no other nat- 
ural interpretation — that he had been present (in Corinth) the second 
time (xiii. 2). That visit, — the one contemplated, as some suppose, in 
I Cor. iv. 18-21, — had been a very painful one — (2 Cor. ii. i) : he had 
been completely humiliated by the unchastity and impenitence of many (xii. 
21). Where are we to place this visit and has it any connection with the 
letter written in anguish and tears? 

There is a large body of opinion in favor of the idea that the second visit 
falls between the first and second epistles. With more or less modification, 
the general situation is usually then reconstructed, as follows. After send- 
ing the first letter, Paul determines to visit Corinth personally, whether 
because of an unfavorable account which Timothy (i Cor. iv. 17, xvi. 10) 
may have brought him (though it is not certain that Timothy actually 
reached Corinth, Acts xix. 22), or because he intended to prolong his stay 
in Ephesus a little beyond his original plan. On reaching Corinth, he finds 
the prevalent mood anything but friendly, the church seriously disturbed, 
his influence undermined and his authority challenged by his Judaizing 
opponents. This would then be the visit which he had made in pain, the 
occasion upon which his God had humiliated him. The air was rife with 
calumny and insult, as in any case we gather from x.-xiii., and some one, 
more daring or virulent than the rest, publicly insulted him (this would 
then be the man " who did the wrong"). In any case, for whatever reason 
— Paul's malady has been suggested as a reason (xii. 7, Gal. iv. 14) — his 
appearance was altogether ineffective, and went to justify the taunts of his 
adversaries (x. 10). He left in sorrow and indignation, and afterwards 
wrote the letter whose severity he was inclined to regret. Titus, appar- 
ently the most energetic and diplomatic of Paul's coadjutors, went to Cor- 
inth either with or soon after the letter, with the result that the attitude of 
the Corinthians towards Paul was changed from rebellion to penitence and 
apology. Titus returned with the good news, meeting Paul in Macedonia, 
whereupon Paul, his feverish anxiety now at rest, wrote his second epistle 
amid conflicting emotions of gratitude at the restoration of confidence be- 
tween himself and the Corinthian church, and indignation at the unworthy 
attempts of his opponents to injure his reputation and ruin his influence. 

On this view the letter would not be First Corinthians, but one inter- 
mediate between the first and second epistles. The proposal has been made 
to identify this letter with the last four chapters of the second epistle 
(x.-xiii.) which undoubtedly form a compact section by themselves, and 
which are written with an irony, an incisiveness, and a severity which 
answer not unaptly to his descriptions of the letter. But practically fatal 
to this view is the fact that there is in these chapters no allusion, as there 



INTRODUCTION. 123 



must have been in the letter, to the offender; and there is in reality no 
valid reason for separating- chs. x.-xiii. from the rest of the epistle. 

There can be no doubt that, on this scheme of events, the futile inter- 
mediate visit, followed by the severe but successful letter, presents a very 
plausible combination; but it cannot be said to be absolutely necessary. If 
the letter which was written in sorrow and productive of sorrow may fairly 
be identified with the first epistle — and Bernard is certainly within the 
truth when he says that '' it has not been proved that the ' Painful Letter ' 
of 2 Cor. ii. 4, vii. 8, cannot have been the First Epistle " — then one link in 
the chain is weak, if not broken. And, as there were certainly two visits, 
and no evidence but that of inference for an intermediate visit, the possi- 
biHty must be admitted that both visits fell before the first epistle. 

The second epistle was probably written a few months after the first, 
somewhere in the early winter of the same year ( ? 57 A.D.). We find 
Paul in Acts xx. 3 leaving Greece, after his third and last visit, for Jerusa- 
lem. As this was about Easter, and he had spent three months in Greece 
(Acts XX. 3, 6) we may conjecture that he arrived there from Ephesus 
about the end of the preceding year. As we have no reason to believe 
that his journey from Ephesus to Corinth by Macedonia (Acts xx. i, 2) 
occupied any considerable length of time, we may fairly assume that Paul 
left Ephesus in the autumn — later therefore than he had originally planned, 
as he had intended to stay in Ephesus only till Pentecost (i Cor. xvi. 8). 
This letter, which was written from Alacedonia (2 Cor. ix. 2) would fall 
a little later. With this agrees the statement that the Corinthians had since 
last year begun to make preparations for the collection for the Judaean poor 
(ix. 2, viii. 10) ; it is clear that the matter had already been in their mJnds 
and that they had written to ask Paul's advice about the best manner of 
raising the money (i Cor. xvi. i). 

The letter falls naturally into three parts: (a) chs. i.-vii., which, while 
embracing a variety of personal matters, deal in general with the glory of 
the new dispensation as contrasted with the old; (b) chs. viii.-ix. constitute 
a plea for a liberal collection for the Judsean poor; (c) chs. x.-xiii. are a 
very spirited vindication of himself and assault upon his opponents. His dis- 
position of the letter, as Heinrici points out, is very skilful. The passage 
dealing with the collection for the Judsean poor, placed as it is midway 
between the other two, on the one hand seals the claim to authority which 
Paul has made or impHed in the first section, and prepares for the polemic 
against his Judaistic opponents in the third, besides suggesting incidentally, 
by his affectionate solicitude for the Judsean poor, that, whatever open 
charges or covert insinuations his opponents may make, there is no quarrel 
between himself and the leaders of the Jerusalem church. 

The presence of the opponents, who occupy the' foreground in the last 



124 INTRODUCTION. 



division of the epistle, is even in the first division not unfelt. It is they who 
deal with the word of God in the spirit of a dishonest tradesman (ii. 17), 
it is they who come to Corinth with letters of recommendation (iii. i) and 
the contrast between the permanence of the new dispensation and the 
transience of the old (iii) is in one aspect an indirect polemic against them. 
Even after making every allowance for the sarcasm and the vehemence into 
which Paul's righteous indignation betrays him, his charges show that some 
of their methods were as odious as their gospel was false. It was another 
gospel, different from Paul's, a gospel with another spirit, that they preached 
(xi. 4) ; and with their different gospel went a different and lower moral 
standard. Indeed they have no standard beyond themselves, and so are 
guilty of ridiculous and immoderate boasting (x. 12). When Paul has done 
the pioneer work, they come tipon the scene like evil spirits (xi. 15) at 
once appropriating and perverting the results of his labors (x. 16), but 
taking good care to break no new ground for the gospel on their own ac- 
count. In xi. 13-15 the indictment takes a form of unusual severity; he 
calls them there " false apostles, crafty workers, transforming themselves 
into apostles of Christ. And no wonder; for even Satan transforms himself 
into an angel of light. It is nothing remarkable, then, if his ministers also 
fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness." Those *' Hebrews, Israel- 
ites, of the seed of Abraham" (xi. 23) are rninisters of Satan! Clearly it 
is a case of war to the knife. 

Let us see now what they had said or done to provoke so vehement a 
retort from Paul. They roundly accuse him of determining his life and 
conduct by unspiritual motives, of " walking according to the flesh " (x. 2). 
They admitted that his letters were impressive (x. 10), but used this very 
circumstance as a foil to disparage him : impressive on paper, but ineffective 
face to face (x. 10), a hero at a distance, but a coward at close quarters 
(x. i). His escape from Damascus over the wall was apparently used to 
make him ridiculous (xi. 31 f.). Yet, coward as he was, he liked to play 
the tyrant (i. 24). They taunted him with his lack of rhetorical skill of 
which Greeks made so much (xi. 6). He could be no apostle this, they 
argued, for he refused to accept support in return for his services (xi. 7). 
Did not this very refusal betray an uneasy consciousness that he was no 
apostle ? Nay, worse : they were mean enough to insinuate that he knew 
how to compensate himself for any lack he might suft'er through his self- 
denying policy; he was not above helping himself to the collection — if not 
directly, at any rate through his agents (xii. 16 f.). Ineffective, avaricious, 
cunning, a tyrant, a coward, a cheat — as such did his opponents choose to 
picture Paul ; and when we see how venomous was their caricature, we can 
hardly be surprised at the indignant vehemence of his reply. 



INTRODUCTION. 125 



How very different is the real Paul ! It is a dishonor to human nature 
that such a man as he should ever have been accused of crooked dealing. 
Every one feels that his words palpitate with sincerity : they are spoken 
as in the sight of God (ii. 17, xii. 19), and he expects them to appeal to the 
unsophisticated conscience (iv. 2, v. 11). If he modifies or reverses a plan 
which he has formed, there is, we may be sure, a deep and satisfactory 
reason for the change : however capable his conduct may be of miscon- 
struction, however liable to the charge of vacillation, his life, like his Mas- 
ter's, is marked by an unswerving inner consistency. He is not a man who 
has Yes and No upon his lips or in his heart at the same time ; he is a man 
of honor and decision (i. 15-19). And of courage, too, in spite of the 
mean insinuations of his opponents. In spite of his manifold sufferings and 
sorrows, he does not lose heart : his sense of the glory of the dispensation 
of which he is a minister, and of the yet brighter glory that awaits him, 
bears him up. He claims to be always of good courage (v. 6, 8), and the 
varied and terrible dangers that he had faced without flinching for the gos- 
pel's sake would more than justify the most extravagant claims — dangers on 
land, on rivers and on seas (xi. 25, 26). Only a man of almost superhuman 
devotion to the cause which he embraced would have voluntarily suffered 
for it hardships so numerous and terrible — hunger, thirst, cold, imprison- 
ment, stripes, stoning, shipwreck (xi. 23 ff.) to say nothing of the continual 
exposure to misunderstanding, treachery, and the subtler, but not less cruel, 
forms of persecution (cf. vi. 4 ff.)- He can truthfully describe his life as a 
continual companying with death (iv. 10 f.). In another aspect, it is a 
warfare: with the mighty weapons of the spirit he fearlessly faces those 
" high things," in which both Hellenism and Judaism alike abounded, that 
are exalted against the knowledge of God, and leads them captive (x. 4 f.). 

In all this high enterprise, he was sustained by a profound sense of his 
mission as "an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God" (i. i). 
His God-given '' line " was to carry the gospel to the Gentiles, to Syria, to 
Greece, and beyond Greece (x. 16) to the farthest western confines of the 
world (Rom. xv. 24). He moves from place to place on his triumphant 
missionary career (ii. 14), conscious that he has been enabled by the grace of 
God to be a competent minister of Christ (iii. 5 f.), and he sees the success 
of his work with a deep and humble satisfaction. " You are our epistle," 
he says to the Corinthians, " known and read of all men " (iii. 2) ; he needs 
and asks for no higher recommendation than that. He is proud of his 
Corinthian converts, he trusts them, he has not hesitated to boast about 
them (vii. 4, 14, ix. 3) and he is overjoyed when, by their exhibition of true 
Christian feeling and conduct on a critical occasion, they have shown to 
the world that he but spoke the truth (vii. 4, 14). 



126 INTRODUCTION. 



He is a man of the intensest sympathy. He shares the weakness of the 
weak, and burns with indignant shame when a brother is caught in the 
snare of sin (xi. 29). He loves his converts (xi. 11), he will most gladly 
spend and be spent for their souls (xii. 15) ; and never was there a baser 
slander than when it was hinted that he had helped himself to money which 
they had collected for the poor (xii. 16 f.)^*' it is not yours," he says, '' but 
you, that I seek" (xii. 14). The wonderful delicacy of his mind comes out 
in the plea which he makes for a liberal collection for the poor of Judaea. 
Money is never once mentioned: The contribution he solicits is set in the 
bright light of Christian privilege (viii. ix.), its spiritual value is glorified 
as a subtle bond of union between distant churches (ix. 12-14), and Corin- 
thian liberality is stimulated by being brought into comparison with the in- 
finite condescension of Christ in exchanging for their sakes, the heavenly 
riches for the poverty of an earthly career (viii. 9). 

He speaks to his friends out of the fulness of his warm, open heart (vi. 
11): but where the occasion demands it, he is a master of irony. Disap- 
pointed at the ease with which the Corinthians have allowed themselves 
to be imposed upon by his opponents, he ironically bespeaks an indulgent 
hearing for himself as, like a fool, he recounts his claims ; their patience 
with his opponents shows that they tolerate fools with pleasure, and well 
they may, as they are so wise themselves! (xi. 16-19). He is a brave man, 
he admits elsewhere, but he has not the courage to compare himself with his 
opponents; in boasting he knows well that he is no match for them (x. 12 f.). 
He sarcastically suggests that he was perhaps guilty of a sin in accepting 
no remuneration from the Corinthians for his services as an evangelist (xi. 7), 
and asks them to forgive him this wrong (xii. 13). 

It is clear from expressions like these that the tension between Paul and 
the Corinthian church must in the recent past have been very great. Any 
resentment of his authority that may have been created by his peremptory 
order in the first epistle (ch. v.) regarding the incestuous man, would be 
deeply intensified by the Judaistic agitators, and this accounts for the large 
space devoted to them in the second epistle (x.-xiii). He has, as with the 
Galatians, to assert vigorously and unambiguously that apostolic authority, 
which had been conferred upon him by the Lord Himself, and whose ultimate 
object was the ''edification," the up-building of the church (x. 8. xiii. 10). 
He had no alternative but to deal severely with his opponents, for the honor 
and the safety of the gospel were at stake. They were preaching another 
gospel (xi. 4) which was no gospel (cf. Gal. i. 6, 7) ; and the deep contrast 
between the two dispensations represented respectively by himself and them, 
is ever present to his mind, and stings him into an assault upon all who 
would wantonly rob Christianity of its freedom and its glory (iii.)- He 



INTRODUCTION. 127 



speaks with plainness, with fearlessness, and with power, as a minister of 
the new covenant (iii. 6), and an ambassador on behalf of Christ (v. 20). 
The love of Christ constrains him (v. 14) — Christ who is the great incarna- 
tion and reahzation of the promises of God (i. 20), Christ who, though He 
was rich, yet for our sakes became poor (viii. 9), Christ, the sinless One 
(v. 21) who died for all (v. 14), Christ, in whom the old things are passed 
away, and behold! they become new (v. 17), Christ the Emancipator, the 
Redeemer, the Transformer, the glorious Lord (iii. 18). It is this sublime 
conception of Christ that explains at once the earnestness of Paul's propa- 
ganda, his solicitude for the churches that were threatened by the insidious 
sophistries of the Judaistic agitators, and his uncompromising assault upon 
them. 

The contrast must have been very remarkable between the physical weak- 
ness and the spiritual power of Paul. The precious treasure, as he said, was 
contained in an earthen vessel (iv. 7). Beaten and bruised as he had been 
by land and on the sea, worn down by his ceaseless anxiety for the churches 
he had founded (xi. 28), suffering from an incurable infirmity which impeded 
the progress of his work (xii. 7 ff.), he literally was dying daily, and often 
may even have looked, as has been suggested, like a dying man. Yet what 
a superb impression the epistle leaves upon us of spiritual power. He can 
accept with joy the refusal of an answer to one of the most deeply earnest 
prayers of his life, because his unremoved infirmity will give the more 
abundant scope to the operation of the grace of Christ within him (xii. 8-10). 
He enjoys unique spiritual experiences, in which the other world is as 
close and real to him as this, and the songs of Paradise are as vivid as the 
thorn that torments his flesh (xii. iff.): but he is fully conscious of the 
special temptations to pride that accompany special gifts and experiences, 
and he has the grace to interpret his infirmity as a gift of God, sent to 
prevent him from being "exalted over-much" (xii. 7). He feels that 
though the outward man is decaying, the inward man is being renewed 
day by day (iv. 16), and he learns to face the prospect of his own death 
with quietness and confidence. Only a few months before he appears to 
have expected the coming of Christ during his own lifetime (i Cor. xv. 51, 
cf. I Thes. iv. 17) ; but the terrible experience at Ephesus which had inter- 
vened (2 Cor. i. 8), and possibly others, had convinced him of the high 
possibility of his own death before that coming. The keen disappointment 
which this conviction must at first have given him gradually melted before 
the thought that death would but usher him into the nearer presence of his 
Lord. In face of death, then, as of danger, he is always of good courage 
(v. 6, 8). He sees beyond the light affliction to the eternal weight of glory 
(iv. 17). 



THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 

TO THE 

CORINTHIANS. 



CHAPTER I. 

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by 
the will of God, and Timothy ou)'- brother, 
unto the church of God which is at Cor- 
inth, with all the saints which are in all 
Achaia : 

2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God 
our Father, and from the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

3 Blessed be God, even the Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 
mercies, and the God of all comfort ; 

4 Who comforteth us in all our tribu- 
lation, that we may be able to comfort 
them which are in any trouble, by the 



comfort wherewith we ourselves are com- 
forted of God. 

5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound 
in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by 
Christ. 

6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for 
your consolation and salvation, which is 
effectual in the enduring of the same suf- 
ferings which we also suffer ; or whether 
we be comforted, it is for your consolation 
and salvation. 

7 And our hope of you is steadfast, 
knowing, that as ye are partakers of the 
sufferings, so shall ye be also of the con- 
solation. 



The Greeting (i. i, 2). 

I, 2. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, 

— the assertion of his apostleship, though 
customary in the introduction (cf. i Cor. 
i. i), was rendered peculiarly necessary 
by the disrespectful criticism of the Cor. 
Cx. 10 f.) — through the will of God, and 
Timothy the brother, for whose recep- 
tion by the Corinthians Paul had enter- 
tained reasonable fears (i Cor. xvi. 10) : 
this association of Timothy with himself 
has the incidental effect of honoring Tim- 
othy in the eyes of the Corinthians. Unto 
the church of God which exists at Cor- 
inth (i Cor. i. 2), together with all the 
saints that are in the whole of Achaea: 
whether by Achcca Greece is meant (cf. i 
Cor. xvi. 15) or merely the district in the 
neighborhood of Corinth, the contents of 
the letter show that it is chiefly intended 
for the Corinthians. Grace to you and 
peace from God our Father and the 
Lord Jesus Christ (cf. i Cor. i. 1-3) . 



Paul's Thanksgiving for the Divine Con- 
solation in Distress (i. 3-11). 

3-5. The letter opens with the customary 
thanksgiving — this time, however, not for 
the condition and progress of his converts 
(i Cor. i. 4ff.), which furnished little 
ground for gratitude, but for blessing be- 
stowed upon himself. Blessed is (or be) 



the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ (cf. Eph. i. 3), the Father of com- 
passions and God of all comfort. This 
emotional beginning rises out of recent ex- 
periences of danger and sorrow which had 
given Paul a vivid revelation of God as a 
compassionate Father (Father of repeated 
compassions: pi.) and Comforter, one who 
continually (pres. ptc.) comforts us (him- 
self and Timothy ; or perhaps here only 
himself) in all our affliction (not general, 
but definite, rij). But, as every spiritual 
experience that comes to Paul is for the 
benefit of the churches, this divine con- 
solation is given that WE may be able to 
comfort those that are in any affliction 
through the comfort with which we on 
our part are comforted by God: the true 
comforter is he whose own sorrow has 
been divinely comforted. For, as the suf- 
ferings of Christ abound unto us, seeing 
that the Christian is united to his Lord, and 
must share his experience of sorrow (Mat. 
X. 24 f. John XV. 20, Col. i. 24). so through 
Christ our comfort also abounds: it is 
through Christ, mediated by Him to those 
in union with Him. The true Christian 
shares alike in the suffering and the con- 
solation — in the one as surely as the 
other, 

6, 7. Now if we are afflicted, it is for 
your comfort and salvation — my expe- 
rience enables me to comfort you (ver. 4), 
and this makes for your salvation : and 
if we are comforted, it is for your com- 



128 



Ch. I] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



129 



8 For we would not, brethren, have you 
ignorant of our trouble which came to us 
in Asia, that we were pressed out of meas- 
ure, above strength, insomuch that we de- 
spaired even of life : 

9 But we had the sentence of death in 
ourselves, that we should not trust in our- 
selves, but in God which raiseth the dead : 



10 Who delivered us from so great a 
death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust 
that he will yet deliver tis; 

11 Ye also helping together by prayer 
for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us 
by the means of many persons thanks may 
be given by many on our behalf. 



fort, which shows itself effective (mid. 
not pass.) in the endurance of the same 
sufferings as we also suffer. Whatever 
the nature of the Corinthian sufferings 
may have been, they were, in a sense, the 
same as Paul's, as they were sufferings 
of Christ, which came to them through 
their union with Him. The sense of the 
divine consolation enables sufferers to en- 
dure. And our hope for you is steadfast, 
knowing, as we do, that, as ye are 
partakers of the sufferings, so also 
are ye of the comfort. In both expe- 
riences, there is a real communion of the 
saints. The received text on which the 
translation of A. V. in ver. 6 rests has no 
manuscript authority but rests on a con- 
jecture of Erasmus. Some MSS. place 
the words " which shows itself effective, 
etc. : and our hope for you is steadfast," 
after the comfort (or salvation) in the first 
clause : others after the comfort in the 
second clause. R. V. (so Westcott and 
Hort), which follows the second alterna- 
tive, seems preferable. 



The Distress and the Deliverance (i. 8-ii). 

8, g. The general reference to his suffer- 
ings Paul now makes more specific, though 
not so specific as we could have wished. 
He is anxious that the Corinthians should 
adequately realize how great his peril had 
been. For we would not have you ig- 
norant, brethren, concerning our affliction 
which befel in Asia. Unhappily we have 
no means of knowing what this was — 
whether, as some suppose, a dangerous ill- 
ness (but could that have been classed as 
one of the " sufferings of Christ," ver. 
5?), or a shipwreck (cf. xi. 25), or some 
incident in the riot at Ephesus (Acts xix). 
The narrative in Acts does not assert that 
Paul's life was in danger, but it is certain 
that he was the object of malignant op- 
position and even persecution (i Cor. xv. 
32, xvi. 9), and it has been suggested with 
some probability that a plot had been 
formed against his life. In any case the 
situation into which he had been brought 



must have been very desperate, to have 
been described in such words as that we 
— though elsewhere he claims to be able 
to do all things in Christ (Phil. iv. 13) — 
were yet weighed down exceedingly be- 
yond (our) power, with the result that 
we, whose motto was " Never despair " 
(iv. 8), actually despaired of life: nay, 
we ourselves have had the sentence of 
death within ourselves — we were as good 
as condemned to death. But man's ex- 
tremity is God's opportunity: the divine 
object of this grim discipline was to drive 
Paul back upon a sense of his own im- 
potence and the divine omnipotence ; it was 
that we might have no confidence in 
ourselves, but only in the omnipotent 
God who raises the dead, and so can 
perform the lesser wonder of delivering 
him from so deadly a peril. The ter- 
rible experience had been a great spiritual 
gain (cf. xii. 7-10). 

10, II. This miraculous interposition of 
God in his behalf was the symbol of a 
mighty love which would further shield 
him from all future danger, being the love 
of a God who delivered us out of the 
jaws of (e/c) so great a death, and will 
in the future deliver (or is delivering, acr 
cording to some MSS : others omit the 
words altogether : before the following 
clause they seem somewhat superfluous), 
towards whom we have set our hope 
(pf.) (that) He will also still deliver us. 
Especially probable is this deliverance, as 
Paul is supported by Corinthian prayers — 
you also helping together on our be- 
half by your supplication, that, from 
many persons, thanks may be offered 
through many, on our behalf, for the 
divine favor of deliverance shown to us. 
This translation is undoubtedly somewhat 
tautological ; but the order of the Greek 
words hardly supports the translation 
either of A. V. or A. R. V.— " the gift 
bestowed upon us by means of many (per- 
sons)," i.e. by means of their pra3'ers — 
though this gives correctly enough the 
general sense, that the Corinthians pray for 
and will rejoice over the deliverance of 
Paul. 



130 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. I 



PAUL'S DEFENSE AGAINST CORINTHIAN CHARGES 

(i. i2-ii. 17). 



12 For our rejoicing is this, the testi- 
mony of our conscience, that in simpHcity 
and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wis- 
dom, but by the grace of God, we have had 
our conversation in the world, and more 
abundantly to you-ward. 

13 For we write none other things unto 
you, than what ye read or acknowledge; 
and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to 
the end ; 

14 As also ye have acknowledged us in 



part, that we are your rejoicing, even as 
ye also are ours in the day of the Lord 
Jesus. 

15 And in this confidence I was minded 
to come unto you before, that ye might 
have a second benefit : 

16 And to pass by you into Macedonia, 
and to come again out of Macedonia unto 
you, and of you to be brought on my way 
toward Judea. 



His General Sincerity (i. 12-14). 

The intensely personal tone of the in- 
troductory verses of the Epistle is here 
heightened by the fact that certain insin- 
uations and accusations on the part of the 
Corinthians have thrown Paul upon his 
defense. He had been accused of a time- 
serving insincerity in his correspondence 
and vacillation in his conduct, and he 
repudiates the charge with dignity and 
much feehng. 

12. The 7ap connects this paragraph 
closely with the last : he still looks to the 
Corinthians for the support of their 
prayers, for all his life has upon it the 
stamp of transparent sincerity. For our 
boasting is this, the testimony of our 
conscience — a conscience rendered spe- 
cially sensitive by his relation to Christ, 
(ver. 19) — that in holiness (the rare 
dyioTTjTL is more probable than airXoTrjTi^ 
simplicity, singleness) and sincerity be- 
fore God (lit. of God: either imparted by 
God, as a gift of His grace, cf. next clause ; 
or such as can stand in the presence of 
God) (and) not in an atmosphere of 
worldly (lit. Hcshly) wisdom, but in the 
grace of God, the atmosphere in which 
Paul habitually lived, did we behave our- 
selves in the world with which his mis- 
sionary activities had so extensively ac- 
quainted him, but more especially in my 
relations to you — because through his 
long stay in Corinth, the Corinthians had 
larger opportunities of witnessing his sin- 
cerity. 

13, 14. For we write nothing else to you 
but what ye read or even acknowledge — 
in my letters to you there are no studied 
ambiguities, the surface meaning is the true 
meaning. The word-play, common in Paul 
(cf. I Cor. xi. 31, 32, Kpivu}, diaKfiivcj 
KaraKpiuu}) upon duayiucbaKu} and eTriyiPuaKu}^ 
can hardly be reproduced in English. 



And I hope that ye will acknowledge 
to the end, i.e. to the great day of Christ's 
appearing, — as in point of fact you have 
acknowledged us in part — that we are 
your boast, and (he delicately adds) you 
ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus, the 
great day when He appears, and the truth 
about human character and motive will 
be finally and clearly revealed. Only a 
good conscience could contemplate so fear- 
lessly the judgments of such a day (cf. i 
Cor. iii.. 13). Some (aTro /xepovs) of the 
Corinthians already acknowledge Paul's 
sincerity. They are proud of him, and he 
is proud of them (cf. vii. 14, ix. 2) — a 
tactful and generous acknowledgment, 
which shows how real was the communion 
between Paul and his converts. A. V. 
and A. R. V. punctuate differently, but the 
general sense is the same. 



Paul's Sincerity in Abandoning His 
Original Plan (i. 15-22). 

15, 16. After affirming the general sin- 
cerity of his life (dfeaTpdcpTHJ-ey, ver. 12), 
Paul proceeds to establish his particular 
sincerity in changing his original plan to 
go direct from Ephcsus to Corinth. He 
begins with fine irony: all his plans depend 
upon the assumption that they have con- 
fidence in his sincerity. ^ And in this con- 
fidence my original intention was to 
come to you direct before going to 
Macedonia : instead of this, he had gone 
first to Macedonia (i Cor. xvi. 5), and 
would thus see Corinth only once, on his 
way south, whereas had he gone first to 
Corirth, he would have paid them a 
double visit at this time — on his way to 
as well as from Macedonia. This was his 
intention — in order that ye might have 
a second experience of the divine favor 
(xaptJ', rather than x^pa", joy) wiiich 



Ch. I] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



131 



17 When I therefore was thus minded,^ 
did I use Hghtness ? or the things that I ' 
purpose, do I purpose according to the 
flesh, that with me there should be yea, 
yea, and nay, nay. 

18 But as God is true, our word toward 
you was not yea and nay, 

19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, 
who was preached among you by us, even 
by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was 



not yea and nay, but in him was yea. 

20 For all the promises of God in him 
are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory 
of God by us. 

21 Now he which stablisheth us with 
you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is 
God; 

22 Who hath also sealed us, and given 
the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 



Paul's visits always signified to the 
churches. And after first visiting Corinth, 
his plan was by you to pass through into 
Macedonia, and again on my way back 
from Macedonia to come to you, and to 
be sent on my way by you to Judaea 
(i Cor. xvi. 3, 4). 

17, 18. Paul's failure to carry out this 
plan led to all sorts of ungenerous mis- 
construction, which throws a lurid light 
on the suspicious mood of the Corinthians. 
He must, they argued, be a fickle man, 
guided in his plans by personal and worldly 
cons^iderations. Paul repudiates the charge 
with solemn vehemence. In this intention 
of mine, then, surely I was not guilty 
of levity, was I? (aor. expwaixtjv) , They 
had insinuated that this change of plan 
was only part of a general temporizing 
policy (pres., jSovXevofiai) , Or are my 
plans dictated by worldly (fleshly, as op- 
posed to spiritual) considerations, that 
there may be in the background of my 
mind the (t6) " Yes, yes " and the " No, 
no " of which you accuse me. Instead of 
generously assuming that he had an hon- 
orable reason for his change of plan, they 
accused him of being a Yes and No man, 
saying yes to-day and no to-morrow, ac- 
cording as it suited his carnal convenience. 
Paul is indignant at their unworthy sus- 
picion, and solemnly repudiates the charge 
on oath. But, as God is faithful, our 
speech to you is not Yes and No. (The 
sentence has apparently the force of an 
oath, though the literal meaning is, '' God 
is faithful in that our speech to you is 
not yes and no"). In Paul's words, there 
is no clever trimming, no indecision, com- 
promise, or inconsistency; they are yes or 
no, not yes and no. 

19, 20. And the thought of the sincerity 
of his words in general leads him to the 
thought of the greatest of his words — 
his words as a preacher of Christ — and 
the inalienable obligation to complete sin- 
cerity which so exalted a theme involved. 
For the Son of God (yap is put late, that 
Tov Qeov may appear in the emphatic place : 
the obligation to sincerity is divine), even 



Jesus Christ, who was preached among 
you through us, not through me only, 
but through Silvanus (i.e. Silas, Acts xv. 
22) and Timothy as well, who had 
preached with Paul at Corinth (Acts xviii. 
5) and whose testimony therefore adds 
weight to Paul's, was not Yes and No 
— • no vacillation or compromise in Jesus 
Christ — but in Him is Yes incarnate. 
Here the thought changes its complexion 
slightly: Paul thinks of Christ not as the 
great embodiment of an uncompromising 
" yes or no " principle, but as the great 
Affirmation, the permanent and everlast- 
ing Yes, — a daring and splendid thought, 
worked grandly out in relation to the past. 
Christ is the complete and eternal satis- 
faction of (Old Testament) aspiration, the 
fulfilment of (O. T.) promise and prophecy. 
For of all the promises of God made in 
the Old Testament (or elsewhere) the 
Affirmation, the Yes, the consummation and 
satisfaction, is in Him: all that God pur- 
poses to do is forever (pf.) done in Christ: 
wherefore also through Him (not and in 
Him, as A. V. following some MSS.) is 
the responsive Amen (i Cor. xiv. 16) on 
the part of the church, to the glory of 
God, through us His ministers. Christ, 
the great Affirmation, is gratefully and be- 
lievingly appropriated by the church in her 
Amen; in this response to and appropria- 
tion of Christ, God is glorified; and on its 
human side, this wonderful result is me- 
diated by us, through the preaching of the 
gospel ministers. 

21, 22. But, as in i Cor. iii. 23, xv. 24- 
28, the apostle passes, as it were, behind 
or beyond Christ, to God. His steadfast- 
ness of speech, and hfe is rooted in God. 
Now He that evermore (pres. ptc.) stab- 
lisheth us with you — a beautiful recog- 
nition of his spiritual kinship with the 
Corinthians — into steadfast loyalty to 
Christ, and anointed us (like Christ, 
XptVas), i,e. consecrated to our office, is 
GOD, who also sealed us for His own 
(mid.) in baptism, thus imprinting His 
image upon us, and gave, in connection 
with our baptism (Acts ii. 38, x. 38) the 



132 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. II 



23 Moreover I call God for a record 
upon my soul, that to spare you I came 
not as yet unto Corinth. 

24 Not for that we have dominion over 
your faith, but are helpers of your joy: 
for by faith ye stand. 



CHAPTER 2. 
I But I determined this w'ith myself, 



that I would not come again to you in 
heaviness. 

2 For if I make you sorrj-, who is he 
then that maketh me glad, but the same 
which is made sorry by me ? 

3 And I wrote this same unto you, lest, 
when I came, I should have sorrow from 
them of whom I ought to rejoice; having 
confidence in you all, that my joy is the 
joy of you all. 

4 For out of much affliction and an- 



pledge which consists of the spirit, in 
our hearts, the first installment, as it were, 
of the glorious inheritance which will be 
ours in the world to come. 

The turn which the argument takes in 
this paragraph gives us a glimpse of the 
heights upon which Paul was habitually 
living. He is repelling a charge of insin- 
cerity; and he repels it by showing how 
impossible it is in one whose life was a 
convinced and unswerving service of Him 
who was the Truth itself. The minister 
of Christ surely cannot be insincere ! And 
for a moment he loses sight of himself 
and his pain at the Corinthian suspicions 
in the contemplation of Christ as the ever- 
lasting Yea, the eternal affirmation and in- 
carnation of all that pure hearts have hoped 
for, of all that God, by poets and prophets, 
has promised to do. He stands for all 
time as the finished realization of the di- 
vine purpose, as dreamt by or revealed to 
man; and God's glory is complete, when 
grateful humanity respond to Him with 
their loud Amen. 



Paul's Reason for Abandoning His 
Original Plan (i. 23-ii. 4). 

23, 24. Paul has rebutted the charge of 
insincerity or fickleness, nevertheless the 
fact remains that he had changed his plan. 
Leaving the larger thoughts into which 
his argument had led him, he now^ gives 
the specific reason for the change — it was 
essentially his affection for them. But I 
for my part (^T'^'), whatever misconstruc- 
tions you put upon my conduct, call God 
over my soul to witness — to take my 
life if I lie — that it was with the object 
of sparing you, that I forbore to corne 
to Corinth. Under the deplorable cir- 
cumstances, of which I Cor. gives us sev- 
eral glimpses, if he had come at the time 
determined by the original plan, it would 
have been with a rod (i Cor. iv. 21). his 
visit would have given pain both to him- 



self and them : to spare them, and give 
them time for amendment, he visits them 
later, on his way south from Macedonia. 
No sooner has Paul said this than he 
perceives that the touchy Corinthians may 
resent his explanation, as if it assumed 
that he claimed authority over their faith ; 
and he instantly guards against misunder- 
standing — for in the region of faith there 
must be independence. I do not mean 
that we are masters of your faith, I am 
no tyrant — far from it, our task is to 
help in furthering your joy ( this is paren- 
thetical) — for it is by faith that you 
stand. A less appropriate rendering is 
" for in point of faith, you stand," i.e. 
your position is unobjectionable. 

ii. I, 2. These verses furnish still more 
detail. For I made up my own mind on 
this point, not again to come to you 
with (lit. in) sorrow, either suft'ering or 
inflicting it. The order of the Greek wards 
again in sorrow raises tlfe presumption 
that a painful visit had already been paid. 
As his first visit to Corinth (Acts xviii.) 
could not be so described, it is difficult to 
find a place for this other implied visit. 
It was not necessarily in the interval be- 
tween the first and second epistles,, and it 
is therefore open to suppose that it fell 
before the first epistle (see Introduction). 
If, however, the order of the' Greek words 
be not pressed, they might be rendered : 
" I determined not again to come to you 
— in sorrow " : i.e. he did not wish his 
second visit to be in sorrow. Two previous 
visits, however, seem to be implied by xii. 
14, xiii. I. In our ignorance of the situa- 
tion, it is impossible to be dogmatic. The 
idea of sorrow is carried into ver. 2. For 
if I (h(^) make you (/ and you both 
emphatic) sorry, then who is there to 
gladden (lit. that gladdens) me? I have 
noliody but those whom I must make 
sorry (lit. but him zcJio is niade sorry 
from me) — probably a general, rather than 
a particular (i Cor. v.) reference. Paul's 
visit at this time can only cause pniu. 

3, 4. And I wrote this very thing, in 



Ch. II] 



II COEINTHIANS. 



133 



guish of heart I wrote unto you with many 
tears ; not that ye should be grieved, but 
that ye might know the love which I have 
more abundantly unto you. 

5 But if any have caused grief, he hath 
not grieved me, but in part : that I may not 
overcharge you all. 

6 Sufficient to such a man is this pun- 
ishment, which was inflicted of many. 



7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather 
to forgive him, and comfort hiui, lest per- 
haps such a one should be swallowed up 
with overmuch sorrow. 

8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye 
would confirm your love toward him. 

9 For to this end also did I write, that 
I might know the proof of you, whether ye 
be obedient in all things. 



order that, when I came, I should not 
have sorrow from those who ought to 
cause me joy, confident as I am in you 
all that my joy is the joy of you all 

• — another fine acknowledgment of his in- 
timate spiritual union with the Corinthians 
(cf. i. 21 ), wnth all of them, and not any 
one party. For out of much affliction 
and anguish of heart I wrote to you 
through many tears — Paul was a man of 
rich emotional nature (Acts xx. 19) — not 
that ye might be made sorry, but that 
ye might Imow THE LOVE (dyd7r7]v in 
emphatic position) which I have most 
abundantly towards you. What was 
" this very thing " which Paul wrote in 
the anguish of a loving heart with stream- 
ing tears t Some suppose the reference is 
to a letter which has not been preserved : 
possibly, however, the allusion is simply 
to I Cor. in wdiole, or in part. The par- 
ticular reference in ver. 3 may be to his 
change of plan, announced in i Cor, xvi. 
5 : others, with more probability, suppose, 
to the passage dealing with the immoral 
person (i Cor. v.), which may well have 
been written with tears. But the letter as 
a whole, with its rebukes of Corinthian 
conceit, faction, lovelessness, scepticism 
(xv.), etc., answers at least tolerably well 
to the description in ver. 4. (See Intro- 
duction.) 



The Restoration of the Offender (ii. S-ii). 

5, 6. The sorrow of ii. 1-4 reappears 
in this paragraph, but this time in more 
particular shape, though with much delicacy 
Paul refrains from definitely naming (tls, 
6 TOLovTos) the offender who had caused it. 
So general indeed is his allusion that it 
is disputed whether he was some one who 
had offered a personal insult to Paul (cf. 
ver. 9), or the incestuous person of i 
Cor. V. : the latter seems, on the whole, 
more probable, but the point is very un- 
certain (see Introduction). But if any 
one has caused sorrow, it is not to me 
as an individual that he has caused it, 
but in part — not to be too hard upon 
him — to you all. If Paul had described 



the sorrow as prostrating the whole church, 
the offender might have been " swallowed 
up by excess of sorrow " ; so, not to press 
(upon him) too heavily, he qualifies his 
statement by in part. In point of fact, 
there appears to have been in this matter 
a minority opposed to Paul, perhaps mis- 
taken champions of Christian " liberty," 
who felt little or none of the general sor- 
row. Sufficient (a legal term, cf. Mark 
XV. 15, Acts xvii. 9) to such a one (cf. 
I Cor. V. 5) is this penalty of excom- 
munication (i Cor. V. 13) inflicted by the 
majority — ^ clearly some were opposed to 
it — so that you (should) no longer per- 
sist in abandoning him to his fate, but 
on the contrary, forgive and comfort 
(him), lest perchance such a one (o 
TOLOVTOS with pathetic effect at the end) 
be swallowed up (as completely as Death 
is swallowed up by the victory of Christ, 
I Cor. XV. 54) by increasing sorrow — 
not "overmuch" (A. V., A. R. V.) but 
" abounding more and more," till at last 
it brought him to despair. There was 
nothing vindictive, or even purely punitive, 
about the excommunication ; it had in view 
the good not only of the church, but of 
the offender himself (cf. i Cor. v. 5). 
It was to bring him to his right mind, to 
a true appreciation of the holiness he had 
violated. The excess of his grief at the 
attitude of the church speaks eloquently 
both for him and for it: the Christian con- 
science of Corinth was more sensitive than 
many passages of i Cor. would lead us to 
suppose. 

8, 9. Paul is anxious to have the erring 
penitent reinstated. When the church dis- 
ciplines her offenders, it must be with 
sorrow and with hope, the hope of their 
ultimate restoration. Wherefore I entreat 
you to ratify practically, and perhaps even 
by a formal decree, your love towards 
him — they are to show for him the love 
which Paul shows for them (dyaTn]^ ver. 
4) : for this was the object of my letter 
(apparently i Cor. v.), to ascertain the 
proof of you, whether in all respects you 
are obedient. Considering the energy 
with which Paul deprecates the thought 
that he tyrannizes over the church (i. 24), 



134 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. II 



10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I 
forgive also : for if I forgave any thing, to 
whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave 
I it in the person of Christ ; 

11 Lest Satan should get an advantage 
of us : for we are not ignorant of his 
devices. 

12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas 
to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was 
opened unto me of the Lord,- 



13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I 
found not Titus my brother ; but taking 
my leave of them, I went from thence into 
Macedonia. 

14 Now thanks be unto God, which al- 
ways causeth us to triumph in Christ, and 
maketh manifest the savour of his knowl- 
edge by us in every place. 



it is just possible that obedience here is 
not that due to him, but to Christ. 

10, II. But to whom you forgive any- 
thing, I forgive also. These words apply 
to the specific situation ; they are hardly 
here the statement of a general principle. 
Paul was one with the church in her sor- 
row, and he would be one with her in 
her forgiveness of the sinner. He almost 
speaks here as if he but followed the 
church's lead. Though he speaks with 
apostolic authority, he recognizes and even 
encourages the authority of the church, 
entreating them to reinstate the erring 
brother. For what I on my part (^7^) 
have forgiven (his forgiveness is a set- 
tled fact: perf.), if indeed I have forgiven 
anything — he makes light of his forgive- 
ness, it is not the principal thing — it is 
for your sakes that (I have forgiven it) 
{i.e. for the sake of the unity and welfare 
of the church). Nor is the forgiveness 
due to a gust of sentimental compassion : 
it is a complete and solemn restoration 
made in the presence of Christ and wit- 
nessed by Him. This seems distinctly 
preferable to A. V., and A. R. V. (marg.) 
" in the person of Christ," i.e. as His dele- 
gate. The ultimate reason for the forgive- 
ness is that no advantage be gained over 
us by Satan (cf. i Cor. v. 5), as would 
be gained if the sinner's excessive grief 
drove him to despair: that would be the 
church's loss and the Adversary's gain. 
For of HIS devices, to ruin souls and 
rob the church, we are not ignorant. 
(There is a word-play here hard to repro- 
duce, " of his knozving devices we are not 
unknowing"). Christians, who have "the 
mind of Christ" (i Cor. ii. 16) have a 
keen eye for the wiles of the adversary of 
Christ. 



Paul's Thanksgiving at the Good News 
From Corinth (ii. 12-17). 

12, 13. After the digression on the sor- 
row occasioned by the sinner, Paul resumes 
the story of his plans to visit Corinth (i. 



23 f.). Now when I came to Troas pn 
my way to Corinth via Macedonia, for 
the preaching of the gospel of Christ, 
and a door (cf. i Cor. xvi. 9), an oppor- 
tunity for preaching, was open to me in 
the Lord, the sphere of all Paul's activity 
— a door through which he would other- 
wise gladly have entered — I had no rest 
for my spirit because I did not find 
Titus my brother. He expects Titus with 
news from Corinth : but, so excited is he 
by the failure of Titus to appear that, 
great missionary and preacher as he is, 
he has to abandon an excellent oppor- 
tunity for preaching at Troas, and pushes 
on in the hope of meeting Titus : a fine 
testimony to his solicitude for the Corin- 
thians : I bade them good-bye, and went 
out of Asia into Europe, Macedonia. 

14. Now to God be thanks. Nothing 
could be more abrupt or startling than this 
joyful cry which breaks, unmediated and 
unexplained, into a narrative of travel — 
the more startling as it immediately fol- 
lows a confession of anxiety and unrest. 
As Paul writes, the whole scene flashes 
again upon him, and his soul kindles with 
the memory of it — of how, with beating 
heart, he had longed for a sight of Titus; 
how finally he had come with the best of 
good news from Corinth, news which com- 
forted, reassured and rejoiced him. The 
story is told in vii. 5 f. : but at the mo- 
ment Paul is not thinking so much of the 
meeting itself, and the news Titus brought, 
as of the overwhelming evidence it fur- 
nished of the irresistible power of the gos- 
pel, and of his own success, under God, 
as its minister. Hence thanks be to God 
who always and everywhere (in every 
place comes at the end of the second par- 
ticipial clause : but the effect of its em- 
phatic position is perhaps best rendered as 
above) leads us in triumph in Christ. 
The meaning of Opiafi^evio is. in this con- 
text, a little difficult to fix. On the analogy 
of fiadrjrevu}^ "to make a disciple" (Mat. 
xxviii. 19), it might mean "to cause to 
triumph"; and this fits in admirably with 
the sense. Paul is restless and anxious, 



Ch. II] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



135 



15 For we are unto God a sweet savour 


death unto death; and 


to the other the 


of Christ, in them that are saved, and in 


savour of life unto Hfe. 


And who is suf- 


them that perish : 


ficient for these things? 




16 To the one we are the savour of 







yet now (as the sequel shows) and ever, 
the victory is his. This is the view taken 
by A. V. " Thanks be unto God which 
always cause th us to triumph." The seem- 
ing defeat is transformed into a victory. 
The word Opca/nlSevco^ however, happens also 
to occur in Col. ii. 15, where its meaning 
is, beyond dispute, to " triumph over." In 
a doubtful passage, the proved meaning of 
a word ought always to be given a fair 
trial: is this meaning, then, possible here? 
" Thanks be unto God, who triumphs over 
us, or leads us in triumph," as a Roman 
general his captives. The first impression 
is that this thought at this point, is some- 
what irrelevant ; this would draw attention 
to Paul as the captive, whereas is he not 
thinking of himself as victor — of his own 
triumph, amid seeming defeat? True: but 
nothing is commoner in Paul than unex- 
pected turns of thought (cf, i. 17-19), 
and, retaining the proved meaning of the 
verb, a subtle, but altogether relevant 
thought emerges. He is, humanly speak- 
ing, the victor; but the real Victor is the 
power by which he is driven, the God by 
whom He is inspired (ws e/c GeoO, ver, 17). 
Paul, the evangelist, like Amos the prophet 
(Amos iii. 8), is swept along by this irre- 
sistible power; it is no more he that 
speaks, but the spirit that speaks in him. 
His victory is God's victory : he conquers 
men because God has conquered him. As 
the triumphal procession of the gospel 
moves about the world, Paul moves with 
it as the prisoner of God. That is the 
wonderful setting which Paul gives to his 
missionary journeys; and such a striking 
and' original turn of thought is altogether 
worthy of Him. He moves as a missionary, 
often lonely, misunderstood, persecuted, 
from place to place ; he seems often to 
meet with disappointment and defeat. But 
in him the gospel is marching on to ever 
fresh conquests ; he has the eyes to see 
it as a triumphal procession, with the in- 
visible God as the conquering general, and 
himself as a glad captive. But this cap- 
tive shares the General's triumph, he 
triumphs indeed in Him. This meaning 
has much the same issue as the other, but 
it is far more characteristic of the daring 
mind of Paul. God leads Paul in triumph 
in Christ — the triumph of God is effected 
through Christ ; outside of Him there is 
no divine triumph, but only in Him. 



The metaphor of the triumphal procession 
is probably maintained in the second clause, 
though it seems to change. He leads us 
in triumph and manifests the savor of 
His knowledge through us (in every 
place). These words sound foreign to our 
ears, but they conveyed a brilliant and 
suggestive picture to the readers of Paul. 
The reference appears to be to the clouds 
of incense which rose from a multitude of 
altars as the triumphal procession moved 
on its way. The gospel procession has 
also its incense : wherever it goes, the air 
is redolent with the knowledge of Him, 
whether by Him we are to understand 
Christ (cf. ver. 15) or God — two pos- 
sibilities which blend in" the idea that the 
knowledge of God comes through Christ. 
This savor is manifested through us and 
wherever we go: the presence of Paul and 
of Christians as devoted as he, is the sim- 
plest thing in the world to detect. They 
bear about with them an atmosphere ; 
everywhere they go, the air is fragrant 
with Christ; and when we are near them, 
we fear sure that the gospel procession 
is moving on, that the Power which is 
victorious in them is advancing to fresh 
victories through them. 

15, 16. There is here a gentle, but almost 
imperceptible transition of thought. In 
ver. 14 the knowledge was the savor : here 
it is the apostle himself, and those who, 
like him, preach the word in sincerity 
(ver. 17). The neutral word savor (oafirj) 
here becomes szveet savor (ei-wSta), which 
again is naturally replaced (before death, 
ver. 16) by the neutral word. For in the 
eyes of God, to God, we are a sweet savor 
of Christ; that is, they are redolent of 
Christ, and God is well pleased with them. 
God, but not all men — only some ; there 
are some whom it repels. This fragrant 
influence operates among, or in them that 
are being saved and in them that are 
perishing (for the contrast, cf. i Cor. i. 
18). In both cases the apostolic preacher 
is a sweet savor to God. Men decide 
their inner quality and therefore their 
destiny, by their attitude to the gospel and 
to the men from whose Hfe streams the 
fragrance of Christ : to the one it is a 
savor of life unto life, to the other a 
savor of death unto death. These phrases 
again sound remote to us ; and to com- 
plicate the case, the text is uncertain, some 



136 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. II 



17 For we are not as many, which cor- but as of God, in the sight of God speak 
rupt the word of God : but as of sincerity, we in Christ. 



MSS. reading the simple genitive (savor 
of Hfe, of death), others adding e/f (savor 
from Hfe). If the preposition e/c be taken 
at its full value, it is hard to explain. One 
can see how for the two great groups of 
men (m^J' . . . 5e) the savor issues in (et's) 
life and death, has these for its goal : one 
can also see how the savor might be said 
to originate in (^k) life, but how could it 
also originate in death ? Unless these be 
general phrases for altogether vital, and 
altogether deadly, it seems better to read 
the simple genitive, " a savor of life unto 
life," i.e. whose element is life and whose 
issue is life, as opposed to the savor with 
death for its element and death for its end. 
The phrase suggests the fearful contrast 
between the destinies of men, according as 
they accept or reject gospel. Despite its 
" fragrance " and beauty, it does not ab- 
solutely compel : it can be resisted, though 
the end of resistance is death. 

17. And for these things, asks Paul — 
for a ministry with responsibilities and 
issues so awful, nothing less than life and 
death — who is sufficient? We are, is the 
implied answer — though not indeed of our- 
selves, our sufficiency is from God (iii, 5). 
For we do all our evangelic work in sin- 
cerity, and as in the presence of God Him- 
self: we are not as the many (ol ttoXXoi: 
some MSS. read oi \0t7r0t', the rest) who 
adulterate the word of God for their 
own profit, as a tavern-keeper adulterates 
his wine, but as out of a heart of trans- 
parent sincerity, yes, as under prompting 
from God and in the presence of God 
we speak in Christ, i.e. in fellowship with 
Him : our speech moves within the sphere 
determined by our relation to Him, 
/caTTT/Xeuw is to act Hke a small shop-keeper, 
to sell retail, then to make a profit by 
adulterating one's wares. In this word he 
appears to be glancing at his Judaistic op- 
ponents, judging by the discussion of the 
Mosaic dispensation which immediately 
follows (iii.). 



This sentence furnishes a suggestive de- 
scription of the ideal preacher. The only 
man who is sufficient for the ministry of 
Jesus Christ is one who refuses to dilute 
the gospel he proclaims, but who pro- 
claims it in its entirety with candor and 
sincerity. Behind 4iim is God, and it is in 
His inspiration (f«) that he speaks. He 
carries about with him a high and purify- 



ing sense of responsibility, for he never 
allows himself to forget that his work is 
being witnessed by the unseen God, that 
it is done in His presence: and Christ is 
the atmosphere, as he is the theme, of all 
his proclamation. 

There are few things more wonderful in 
Paul than the mighty emotion by which 
his soul was swept as he contemplated 
certain simple facts. He meets Titus and 
hears from him good news of Corinth ; 
and, without even waiting to tell us that 
he met him, he bursts into a hymn of 
jubilation. This was because he saw 
through the fact to the God whose triumph 
in the world it illustrated. Paul had all 
the old Hebrew genius for detecting the 
spiritual significance of historic fact. He 
can read his experience, and he rejoices 
with joy unspeakable, because he finds God 
there. To his enlightened eyes, his check- 
ered missionary career is in realit}' an un- 
broken triumph of God, always and every- 
where. 

The preacher or the missionary, whose 
heart was sustained by the vision that Paul 
saw, could go on, amid weakness and dis- 
appointment, from strength to strength, 
hoping and daring the bravest things. 
Paul's own travels from point to point 
throughout the world, preaching here, 
founding a church there, he interpreted as 
the triumphal procession of the gospel and 
of the God whose captive he was. Here 
and there men were won for Jesus, a 
church of God existed even in immoral 
Corinth (i Cor. i. 2, 2 Cor. i. i), and that 
church, by the news Titus brought, had 
clearly caught something of the spirit of 
Jesus, and was growing into His likeness. 
In all this Paul read the triumph of the 
gospel, of Christ, of God ; and, in his 
splendid paradox, he, their captive, shared 
their victory. 

Suggestive, too, is his comparison of the 
influence exerted by the servants of Christ 
to a savor. It is true of all His servants 
no less than of the preacher. Wherever 
they are, there should be fragrance — per- 
vasive, undeniable, irresistible. A Chris- 
tian without this redolence is as impossible 
as incense whose presence is unfclt by 
those who come near it. It penetrates the 
atmosphere and compels attention : so must 
it be with those who arc in Christ. United 
with Him, and secure in Him. they must 
also be redolent of Him — so plainly and 
unmistakably that their presence is, as it 



€h. II] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



137 



were, a perpetual challenge to their en- 
vironment, repelling some, attracting 
others. They constitute a living standard, 
which compels men involuntarily to ex- 
pose the inner quality of their life. It is 
the manner of their attitude and response 



to that " sweet savor of Christ " which 
streams from His servants, that determines 
whether men are " among those that are 
being saved " or " among those that are 
perishing." 



138 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. Ill 



THE GLORY OF THE APOSTOLIC OFFICE (iii. i 



vi. 



0) 



CHAPTER 3. 

I Do we begin again to commend our- 
selves? or need we, as some others, epistles 
of commendation to you, or letters of com- 
mendation from you? 



2 Ye are our epistle written in our 
hearts, known and read of all men : 

3. Forasmuch as ye arc manifestly de- 
clared to be the epistle of Christ ministered 
by us, written not with ink, but with the 
Spirit of the living God ; not in tables of 
stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. 



The Corinthians are Paul's Living Letter 
of Recommendation (iii. 1-3). 

The tone of triumphant confidence with 
which the apostle had closed the last para- 
graph (ii. 14-17), reminds him of the chal- 
lenge which it is sure to call forth from 
his opponents, who have a keen scent for 
anything that looks like self-commendation 
on the part of the apostle ; and this leads 
him to launch into his great defense of the 
glory of the apostolic office. As " an apos- 
tle of Christ Jesus" (i. i), he is the min- 
ister of a new dispensation, whose intrinsic 
glory is greatly heightened by comparison 
with the old Mosaic dispensation. The 
glory of the one is swallowed up in the 
exceeding glory of the other, and Paul 
writes with the insight of one who under- 
stood both dispensations thoroughly — for 
he had been a faithful and zealous servant 
of both — and with the enthusiasm of 
one who had found peace, joy, and finality 
in the new spiritual order created by 
Jesus Christ. The peculiar point of the 
comparison depends on the circumstance 
that the opponents he is here combating, 
belong to the Jewish party (cf. xi. 22). 

I. Are we beginning — in the preced- 
ing verse (ii. 17) he had laid himself open 
to this charge, and he continues in ver. 6, 
where he declares that he is a competent 
minister of the new covenant — again to 
commend ourselves? — apparently a fav- 
orite charge against the apostle, to which 
some expressions in i Cor. (cf. ix. 15, xiv. 
18, XV. 10) lent a colorable excuse, hence 
again. But his opponents had altogether 
misunderstood the tone of these references ; 
no one knew better than Paul that " not he 
that commendeth himself is app'^oved. but 
he whom the Lord commendeth." Pie dges 
not need to commend himself, for he has 
the approval of the Lord: it is "writ 
large " in the success of his ministry at 
Corinth. For the same reason he needs no 
commendation from them : the very exist- 
ence of the Corinthian church, which owes 
its origin to him, was commendation 



enough (cf. i Cor. ix. 2). Or do we 
need, as some do — a glance probably at 
his opponents (ii. 17) — letters of recom- 
mendation to you? Surely not: they 
have good reason to know him well; but 
for him, would there have been a Corin- 
thian church at all? If to others he was 
not an apostle, at any rate he was to 
them ; they were the Seal of his apostleship 
(i Cor. ix. 2). Letters of recommendation 
were frequently given Christians to the 
church of the district to which they were 
going: such a letter was given Apollos 
when he left Ephesus for Corinth (Acts 
xviii. 27). Paul's opponents had probably 
brought such letters from the Jerusalem 
church. Or do we need letters of recom- 
mendation from you? As little as he 
needed letters of recommendation to them, 
did he need such letters from them to 
others. The credentials which he could 
everywhere present with confidence were 
the Corinthians themselves and his well- 
known success among them. 

2, 3. YE are cur letter of commen- 
dation, a more convincing testimonial than 
any written with ink on paper : when I 
am asked for my credentials, I point to 
you, liz'ing epistles. This testimonial is 
open for the inspection of all the world, 
knoivn and read by all men, but it is also 
written in our hearts. The figure sug- 
gested by the " letter " is not worked out 
with strict consistency : at one time it is 
written upon Paul's heart, at another by 
Christ (ver. 3) upon the hearts of the 
Corinthians themselves (ver. 3). But the 
meaning is perfectly clear. Paul bears about 
with him, graven upon his heart, the mem- 
ory of his fruitful ministry at Corinth — a 
ministry which was at once a consolation 
to himself, and a testimony to the world; 
for the Corinthian converts were an epis- 
tle, known and read (yiuwaKofievt] Kal 
dvayLvwaKofievt)) ; for a similar word-plav. 
cf. i. 13) by all men — the founding and 
the progress of the church in immoral Cor- 
inth would be a matter of wide, almost uni- 
versal interest. The testimony borne by the 



Ch. Ill] 



II COKINTHIANS. 



139 



4 And such trust have we through 
Christ to God-ward : 

5 Not that we are sufficient of our- 
selves to think any thing as of ourselves ; 
but our sufficiency is of God. 



6 Who also hath made us able min- 
isters of the new testament ; not of the 
letter, but of the spirit : for the letter 
killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 



Corinthian church is plain ((pavepov^Mevoi) : 
Paul speaks of its members as manifestly 
being an epistle of Christ, i.e. written 
by Christ, ministered by us. • The human 
amanuensis of this living epistle was Paul, 
but the real author of it was Christ. The 
transformation in Corinthian character 
was effected by the ministry of Paul, but 
he was the minister of Christ: he wrote 
but as he was prompted by Christ. And 
this letter was written not, like ordinary 
human testimonials, with ink: such were 
the letters of recommendation brought by 
Paul's opponents from Jerusalem, written 
with ink upon paper, and of themselves 
impotent to prove anything. Not such 
were Paul's credentials, but written with 
the spirit of the living God: this letter 
was • convincing, because behind it was 
spirit, power, life, God. The man who 
was in possession of such a letter of com- 
mendation needed no documentary attesta- 
tion from anybody, he was attested by the 
mighty spiritual results that accompanied 
and followed his ministry. The letter to 
which he appealed was convincing because 
of the material upon which, as well as the 
instrument by which, it was written : for 
it was written not upon paper or tablets 
of stone, but upon the impressible fleshly 
tablets of the heart. The letters that 
carry real persuasion or conviction must 
be written there. In this connection the 
stone tablets come as a surprise, as the 
context is dealing with letters written with 
ink and necessarily upon a very different 
surface ; but Paul is preparing the way 
here for the great contrast, which he is 
about to elaborate, between the Mosaic 
dispensation, represented by the tablets of 
stone, and the Christian dispensation, 
wdiose impulse and atmosphere is the 
spirit. Jhe contrast had already been sug- 
gested in the great prophecy of Jeremiah 
(xxxi. 31-34) who, realizing the inade- 
quacy of the older dispensation, comforted 
his heart with the vision of a day when 
the law would be no more a series of ex- 
ternal ordinances, but an inward thing, 
written upon the heart. 



The most convincing proof of a man's 
competence in any sphere is the work he 
has done. Written statements, whether 



drawn up by himself or by others, regard- 
ing his power, must be ultimately referred 
to that practical test, which is both fair 
and final : his worth is best attested not 
in ink, but in experience. Paul was not 
afraid of this test. He had changed the 
face of the world, and he needed no " cer- 
tificate " from any man. The men whom 
his ministry had transformed were his 
credentials. 

But letters are written to be read, and 
a Christian epistle is no exception. The 
Corinthians were Paul's living epistle, and 
they were continually being read (pres. 
ptc.) by all men. The church is the let- 
ter, and the world is the reader. And 
herein lies an obligation which the church 
as a whole, and Christian men in par- 
ticular, can never afford to forget. They 
are being read: they must see to it, there- 
fore, that the thing that is being daily, 
scrupulously, read is worth reading, — that 
it is in truth an epistle of Christ, an 
epistle which He would not be ashamed 
to own. 



A Competent Minister (iii. 4-6). 

The confident tone (Treiroidrjais) which 
ran throughout the last paragraph Paul 
now proceeds to explain and justify. His 
competence as an evangelist is undeniable, 
it is written in unmistakable characters in 
the success of his work ; but, though it is 
his own (^7 iKavoTTjs ijixcov) it is not his own, 
its source is in God (e/c tov Qeov) ; and 
therefore, though his success is frankly as- 
serted and even insisted upon, boasting is 
excluded. 

4-6. And such confidence in his apos- 
tolic success as animated the last para- 
graph we have, not through any innate 
power of our own, but through Christ, 
and in relation to God. It is God who 
has made Paul competent and successful 
(vv. 5, 6), and his confidence therefore 
takes a God-ward direction. Paul has al- 
ways to fear malicious misconstructions of 
such assertions, therefore he adds at once: 
I do not mean that of ourselves we are 
competent to form any judgment as 
from ourselves, e/c {out of ourselves) in- 
dicates the origin even more distinctly than 
a-TTo {from) : both together suggest how 



140 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. Ill 



7 But if the ministration of death, writ- 
ten and engraven in stones, was glorious, 
so that the children of Israel could not 
steadfastly behold the face of Moses for 



the glory of his countenance ; which glory 
was to be done away; 

8 How shall not the ministration of the 
spirit be rather glorious ? 



utterly Paul disclaims the competence, on 
the basis of his own native resources, to 
reach decisions, to devise ways and means, 
affecting his apostolic activity. But, on 
the contrary, our competence,' which is a 
real and undoubted fact, is from God: it 
is indeed mine, but He is its source : for 
it is He who, at our conversion once for 
all (iKdpojaev, aor.) made us competent 
to be ministers of the NEW covenant. 
To appreciate the real force of the pas- 
sage, we must remember that the opponents 
whom Paul has here specially in view, are 
Judaizers (xi. 22) who championed the 
old Mosaic covenant. With Jesus,^ a new 
order, constitution, covenant, came into the 
world : no one apprehended more clearly 
or forcibly than Paul the tremendous, the 
infinite difference that Jesus made to his- 
tory (cf. I Cor. XV. 22). And as he thinks 
of this difference, brief sharp words leap 
from his pen, that cut right into the heart 
of the contrast, and lay it bare. In being 
enabled to be a minister of this new cove- 
nant, he becomes a minister not of the 
letter, but of the spirit. Here is the 
first startling antithesis : letter and spirit. 
We commonly use these words to suggest 
the difference between an interpretation 
which looks to the bare words and one 
which looks rather to their intention : this, 
however, is not the meaning of the passage 
here. The letter has been suggested to 
Paul by the reference to the stone tablets 
(ver. 3), or rather perhaps that reference 
had in view the contrast, which Paul is here 
beginning to develop, between the two dis- 
pensations. In either case, the letter is the 
Jaw, which found its most characteristic 
expression in the commandments (or 
rather prohibitions, for the most part) 
graven upon the tablets of stone : while, 
in contrast with this, is the spirit, the 
source of that new order or constitution 
of things, which was established by and 
in Jesus Christ. The contrast is not be- 
tween word and intention, but between law 
and gospel, between Moses and Christ, be- 
tween laws imposed from without, and 
spirit operating freely (ver. 17) and spon- 
taneously from within (cf. Rom. vii. 6, 
ii. 29). 

God did not make Paul a minister of 
the letter, but of the spirit, for the reason 
that the letter (i.e. the lazv) killeth, while 
the spirit maketh alive. The difference 



between law and gospel is nothing less 
than the difference between life and death. 
The contrast is, for the purposes of the 
argument, made as absolute as it can be 
made, and more absolute than Paul has 
made it in other passages, e.g. in Rom. 
vii. 14, where the law is even described as 
spiritual (Trvev /xar inos ) . In one aspect, the 
law is holy (Rom. vii. 12), and even 
glorious (2 Cor. iii. 9-11) ; but, on the 
whole, its work was negative. It imposed 
a command to which men were not equal, 
it virtually therefore condemned them 
(ver. 9) — condemned them to death. As 
men could only disobey the law, and life 
lay alone in obedience, the law could only 
lead to death (cf. Rom. vii. 9-11). In 
this sense, therefore, the letter kills. But 
the spirit — not simply a vague contrast 
with the letter, but the definite spirit of 
the Lord Jesus (ver. 17) — maketh alive. 
The soul that was slain — shut up to de- 
spair and death — by the law, is quickened 
into life when touched by the spirit of 
Jesus. These words are a vivid summary 
of Paul's experience under the two dispen- 
sations, both of which he knew so well. 



The Greater Glory of the New Dispensa- 
tion (iii. 7-1 1). 

Paul has been drawn, by his defense of 
himself as a competent minister of the 
gospel, into a comparison of the two dis- 
pensations. This comparison he now elab- 
orates, admitting the glory of the older 
dispensation, but insisting upon the more 
exceeding glory of that of which he is now 
minister. 

7, 8. But if the ministration of death 
(that is, the law — of which Moses was 
minister — whose issue was death, for it 
kills, ver. 6), which consisted in letters, 
and was engraved on stones, was con- 
stituted in glory, a glory which, as the 
context suggests, found symbolic expres- 
sion upon the shining face of Moses, and 
which was yet so striking that, for fear 
(cf. Exod. xxxiv. 30), the children of 
Israel could not look steadfastly upon 
the face of Moses because of the glory 
of his face, though that was a glory 
which, even as they gazed, was passing 
away (for KaTapyovfxevT)v, cf. I Cor. xiii. 
8, 10) : — if the ministry of death was so ' 



Ch. Ill] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



141 



9 For if the ministration of condernna- 
tion be glory, much more doth the minis- 
tration of righteousness exceed in glory. 



10 For even that which was made glori- 
ous had no glory in this respect, by reason 
of the glory that excelleth. 



glorious, surely still more will the min- 
istration of the SPIRIT be in glory. 

For the spirit giveth life (ver. 6) ; and as 
stupendous as is the difference between 
life and death, so stupendous is the differ- 
ence between the glory of the one covenant 
and that of the other. The ^ phrase iv 
ypd/xfjiacLv, applied to the " ministration of 
death," means much more than written 
(cf. A. v., and A. R. V. text) : it is in- 
tended to recall the ypdfi/xa (letter) of 
the preceding verse (as in A. R. V. marg. 
in letters). The old covenant consisted of 
lifeless, isolated letters, carved on stone: 
the new is a life-giving spirit. The old 
was made (iyeprjdr]) in glory, its inception 
was glorious — witness the face of Moses : 
the new shall be ie<TTai) in glory, glory 
is its permanent element. The use of the 
future tense is not intended to suggest 
that the glory of the new dispensation is a 
thing of the future — to be revealed, for 
example, at the coming of Christ : it is the 
future of argument, and is equal to, " It 
follows that the ministration of the spirit 
is more glorious." The glory is already 
here, since Christ has come, and especially 
since He has risen: Paul kindles at the 
contemplation of it. Throughout this sec- 
tion, the words _" ministration " and " glory," 
though they primarily refer to experiences 
of Moses, insensibly glide into a larger 
meaning, and practically suggest the whole 
range of the older dispensation. The sense 
in which the glory upon the face of Moses 
was transient, becomes more plain in ver. 

g. The new dispensation must be far 
more glorious than the old : for if the 
ministration of condemnation — the law 
which condemned to death (ver. 7) — 
(was) glory, the ministration of justi- 
fication (lit. righteousness) is necessarily 
far more abundant in glory: the one 
transcends the other as much as justifica- 
tion transcends condemnation. (If the 
reading rfj diaKovia, instead of "h dtaKovia^ 
be accepted, the meaning will be, " If the 
ministration of condemnation had glory." 
The other is more striking and emphatic.) 
The new dispensation, and by implication 
its ministers (like Paul) are superior to 
the old, for by acceptance of the gospel, 
a man, instead of being condemned, be- 
comes "righteous, justified, acquitted," be- 
fore God (cf. Rom. iii. 22 ff.). This verse 
practically repeats the thought of vv. 7, 8, 



but characterizes the two dispensations by 
fresh, incisive, names. 

10, II. In the exuberance of his enthu- 
siasm for the new dispensation, the apostle 
almost seems in this verse to deny to the 
old the glory which he had already con- 
ceded to it. It had a glory of its own, 
but its glory is as nothing in comparison 
with the exceeding glory of the other. 
For indeed that old dispensation glorious 
as it is, has no real glory in comparison 
with the surpassing glory of the other 
(lit. in this respect, on account of the sur- 
passing glory, the latter phrase defining the 
former). For if the passing, the transient, 
was accompanied by glory, much more 
is (not shall be: see note on ver. 8) the 
permanent established in glory. The 
prepositions 5ta and ej/ appear here to be 
intentionally used to suggest respectively 
the temporary glory of the one dispensa- 
tion, and the inherent and abiding glory 
of the other. The Mosaic dispensation 
transitory, yet not without glory: the 
Christian dispensation eternal, therefore es- 
sentially far more glorious. 



A paragraph like this enables us to see 
how profoundly, how overwhelmingly, Paul 
was impressed by the consciousness of the 
difference that Jesus had made. He gave a 
new (ver. 6) turn to the spiritual history 
of the race, so that the world of rehgious 
possibility and reality after Him (and of 
course in Him) was different from, and 
far more glorious than, the world which 
had preceded Him. He speaks of its sur- 
passing glory (ver. 10) — it is more glori- 
ous (ver. 8), twice he calls it far more 
(ttoXXw fidWov) glorious. And it is so, 
because, while the law was bound up with 
ideas of condemnation and death (vv. 9, 
7), the gospel was a message of acquittal 
and life. Whatever the future might have 
in store, life in Christ, and especially life 
as a preacher of the gospel, was even here 
and now glorious : it was glorious to be 
free from condemnation (ver. 9), glorious 
to be secure against death (ver. 7). This 
assuredly was the hfe indeed. 

It would be a happy day for the church 
and for the world, if those who name the 
name of Christ were stirred, as Paul was, 
by the thought of the glorious world into 
which Christ has ushered them. Our es- 
cape to Christ is not, as was Paul's, from 



142 



II COEINTHIANS. 



[Ch. Ill 



11 For if that which is done away was 
glorious, much more that which remaineth 
is glorious. 

12 Seeing then that we have such hope, 
we use great plainness of speech : 

13 And not as Moses, ivliich put a vail 
over his face, that the children of Israel 
could not steadfastly look to the end of 
that which is abolished : 



14 But their minds were blinded : for 
until this day remaineth the same vail 
untaken away in the reading of the old 
testament ; which vail is done away in 
Christ. 

15 But even unto this day, when Moses 
is read, the vail is upon their heart. 



the burden of the Jewish law: our servi- 
tude is, in form, different from his. But 
in spirit it is much the same. We, like 
him, are in bondage to the transient, to 
that zuhich is passing away (ver. 11) : 
Christ brings us, if we let Him, into the 
eternal order (to fievov) , And the man who 
stands within that order, serene and secure, 
may well feel that he is already living in 
a world of " surpassing glory." 



The Veil Removed (iii. 12-18). 

12, 13. The two dispensations are still 
further contrasted, this time with special 
emphasis upon the frankness and freedom 
characteristic of those who are " in Christ." 
Paul appears to have been accused of ob- 
scuring the gospel (cf. iv. 3) ; no accusa- 
tion, he hints, could be wider of the mark. 
Openness is the genius of the new dispen- 
sation ; and, having nothing to conceal, he 
can speak plainly and even boldly. Hav- 
ing, then, such a hope of abiding glory 
(ver. 11), we adopt great boldness of 
speech towards all with whom our minr 
istry brings us into contact — he can afford 
to be, and is even bound to be, frank. 
And we do not put a veil upon our face, 
as Moses put a veil upon his face (Exod. 
xxxiv. 2)2))^ to keep the children of Israel 
from looking steadfastly upon the end 
o£ that which was passing away. The 
narrative in Exodus (xxxiv. 29-35) as- 
signs no reason for the action of Moses 
in putting a veil on his face ; the reason 
here assigned by Paul is peculiar, and, as 
Professor Denney {Expositor's Bible, 2 
Cor. p. 129) says, perhaps not to be taken 
too seriously. According to Exodus, 
Moses appeared without the veil before 
Jehovah and before the people, while he 
w^as delivering Jehovah's message to them : 
when the message had been delivered, he 
put the veil on (a point misrepresented in 
A. V. which in ver. 2>Z wrongly reads till 
for zchen). And, as the delivery of the 
divine message was accompanied by the 
shining face, Paul infers from the donning 
of the veil immediately afterwards, that the 



glory began thereafter gradually to vanish, 
and that the veil was to hide its evanes- 
cence. The real point of the passage, how- 
ever, is, in any case, not the intention of 
Moses, but the transience of the glory, 
and the inability of the Israelites to recog- 
nize this transience. The vanishing glory 
was symbolic of the transient dispensa- 
tion. Israel did not see this, but because 
of the veil, thought of it as permanent; 
their understandings were hardened. 

14, 15. For up to the present day, at 
the reading of the old covenant — Paul 
is thinking chiefly of the law (cf. Moses 
in ver. 15), but the application to prophecy 
is quite legitimate (cf. i. 20) — the same 
veil (not, of course, Moses' veil, but the 
veil of their inability to recognize the tem- 
porary nature of the Mosaic dispensation) 
remains unlifted (for only in Christ is 
it done away), but till to-day, whenever 
Moses (the law, the Pentateuch) is read, 
a veil lies upon their heart. There is 
the same slight change in the zr //-metaphor, 
as there was in the epistle of vv. 2, 3 : 
the veil, once on the face of Aloses, is now 
on their heart. The transitory nature of 
the old covenant is hidden from them as it 
was from their fathers; but the implication 
is that they are more culpable — the veil 
is on their heart, and it lies with them to 
repent and return (ver. 16). Considerable 
difficulty attaches to the construction of 
fiT] CLvaKoKinrToixevov in ver. 14. A, R. V. 
takes it as an accus. absolute, — " it not 
being revealed (to them) that it is done 
away in Christ." But besides the compara- 
tive infrequency of this participial construc- 
tion, it would seem much more natural to 
take the word with its cognate KaXv/xfia 
earlier in the sentence, and thus to assign 
it to the concrete sense which it has in 
ver. 18 (dvaKeKaXv/x/jLevip Trpoffuiru)^ with un- 
veiled face). A. V. is probably therefore 
right in translating " the veil remaineth 
untaken away," though apparently wrong in 
rendering '' zchich (veil) is done away in 
Christ," as '0, ri is not equivalent to 3, 
On any view of the verse, however, the 
great utterance remains that "the veil (or 
the old covenant) is done away in Christ/* 



Ch. Ill] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



143 



i6 Nevertheless, when it shall turn to 
the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 

17 Now the Lord is that Spirit : and 
were the Spirit of the Lord is, there is 
liberty. 



18 But we all, with open face beholding 
as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are 
changed into the same image from glory 
to glory, evc7i as by the Spirit of the Lord. 



His appearance at once fulfills and abolishes 
the old covenant; it is abolished at least 
for those in Him. This leads to the 
thought of ver. 16. 

16. But whensoever it shall turn to 
the Lord, away the veil is taken — the 
present is graphically used for the future, 
and the verb (Treptatpeirat) put first for 
emphasis, though on the latter point too 
much stress ought not to be laid, as the 
w^ords are practically a quotation from 
Exod. xxxiv. 34. There the reference is 
to Aloses, here it must be wider — whether 
to the heart, upon which the veil lies, or to 
Israel, collectively (cf. Rom. xi. 12) or in- 
dividually (Tts, one). In any case, to turn 
to the Lord, by w^hom Paul must here mean 
Christ, is to have the veil removed and 
to behold the exceeding glory of His fin- 
ished and abiding work, which not only 
transcends, but supersedes the dispensation 
that had gone before. 

17. Paul had spoken earlier of the new 
dispensation as the dispensation of the 
spirit (ver. 8) : men enter into by turning 
to the Lord (ver. 16). Between the spirit 
and the Lord there must therefore be an 
intimate connection : they are indeed to be 
distinguished (xiii. 14), but Paul asserts 
here a practical identity — now the Lord 
is the spirit. The spirit which animated 
believers, and brought forth in them its 
marvelous fruits (Gal. v. 22) was the 
Lord's spirit : the particular characteristic 
of it which Paul here selects, is its free- 
dom — and where the spirit of the Lord 
is, there is liberty of all kinds : freedom, 
as we have seen, from condemnation and 
death (vv. 6, 8), freedom from the literal 
and statutory temper created by the old 
covenant, deliverance into the untrammeled 
life of the spirit. Here, more particularly, 
it is the spirit of the man whose vision 
is not obscured by any veil, — who gazes 
with open face (ver. 18) and who declares 
frankly and fearlessly what he sees (ver. 
12). 

18. But we all — not preachers alone 
but all Christians — unlike the Jews (ver. 
15) with face unveiled, beholding as in a 
mirror the glory of the Lord, are being 
transformed while we gaze (pres. ptc.) 
into the same image, from glory to glory. 
The gospel is the mirror in which the 
glory of Christ is reflected. The word 



KaTOTTTpi^ofxevoL has been the subject of much 
dispute : the two possible meanings are 
given in A. R. V., text and margin re- 
spectively — beholding and reflecting (as in 
a mirror). The active voice means "to 
show in a mirror," and the precise force 
of the middle must be determined by the 
context. This seems undoubtedly to favor 
the rendering " beholding." The Jews had 
looked, but had not seen the glory ; a veil 
had hidden it from them — for the earlier 
Jews, the veil on Moses' face, and, for 
the later, the veil upon their own hearts. 
But the veil is done away in Christ (ver. 
14). We Christians look upon the Lord, 
and we really see His glory, for there is 
no veil upon our hearts. There is no veil 
upon Christ's face, nor is there any upon 
ours : " we behold zdth face unveiled the 
glory of the Lord." Behold fits the pas- 
sage admirably, and brings out the thought 
of liberty in ver. 17 much more forcibly 
than reflecting would do : it happily ex- 
presses the frank, clear gaze at the glorious 
reality. What is meant by the glory of 
the Lord must be gathered from the con- 
text. His glory is in part revealed by 
bringing men out of a state of condemna- 
tion and death into acquittal and hfe, but 
it is a more comprehensive thing than 
that. He is altogether glorious, and His 
crowning glory is His resurrection (i Cor. 
XV.). It is the glory of the risen and 
triumDhant Lord upon which the Chris- 
tian gazes, and as he gazes, he is trans- 
formed into the same image and becomes 
like his risen Lord. As the process is a 
gradual one, from glory to glory (and 
this is also suggested by the present tenses, 
as we behold, lue are being transformed), 
the reference is essentially to a transforma- 
tion of character. The glory is an inward 
glory,_just as Christ's glory, however strik- 
ing might be its external manifestation at His 
second coming, was essentially His trium- 
phant work. We are transformed from 
glory to glory, from one glory to another and 
a higher, until we reach the highest (i Cor. 
XV. 51-54) . This gradual and glorious trans- 
formation is just such as one would expect, 
coming as it does from the Lord the 
spirit. Ver. 17 ("the Lord is the spirit") 
shows that this is the true rendering of 
dirb KvpLov TTvevfiaTos, and not either of the 
other theoretically possible renderings — 



144 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. IV 



CHAPTER 4. 

1 Therefore, seeing we have this min- 
istry, as we have received mercy, we faint 
not; 

2 But have renounced the hidden things 



of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, 
nor handling the word of God deceitfully; 
but, by manifestation of the truth, com- 
mending ourselves to every man's con- 
science in the sight of God. 



"from the spirit of the Lord" or (still 
less) " from the Lord of the spirit." This 
transformation is natural, as it has its 
source (dwo) in Him. It is the spirit, 
Christ, the spirit of Christ that transforms. 



This little paragraph glows with great 
thought and culminates in a vision of un- 
usual beauty and power. The pathos of the 
Jewish position was that it mistook the 
temporary for the eternal. And when that 
mistake is repeated to-day, the explanation 
is often now, as it was then, a moral one 
— a veil is upon the heart, whether that 
veil be woven by prejudice (as was the 
case with Paul before his conversion) or 
of sin. 

That veil is removed when men frankly 
face Christ. " When men turn to the 
Lord, the veil is taken away." In Him 
they confront the eternal order, and, united 
with Him, they stand within it. In Him 
they are delivered from' the restrictions 
that strangle spontaneity and all true life : 
''where His spirit is, there is hberty " — 
one of those great words of Paul, which 
goes right to the heart of the gospel. 
Christ makes men free (Gal. v. i), free 
from the incubus of tradition and all ex- 
ternally imposed authority, free to think 
and speak and act in accordance with the 
impulse of the spirit within. 

But that spirit must be a Christian spirit, 
it is the spirit of the Lord. It is by 
obeying its impulses that we are trans- 
formed : the glorious change proceeds from 
it (airo)^ from Him. That is one aspect 
of the matter: the other is that the trans- 
formation is effected as we gaze.^ We 
learn of Him and His spirit by looking at 
Him; and as we steadily behold His glory, 
silently but surely docs the quality of His 
life pass over into ours, till we actually 
become the very image of the Lord whom 
we gaze upon. Without the steady gaze, 
there can be no transformation. It is a 
daring arid wonderful picture — the servant 
of Christ looking with unveiled face upon 
his exalted Lord, and being transformed, 
as he gazes, from glory to glory, till finally 
he wears His very image. 



The Apostle's Frankness and Sincerity as a 
Preacher (iv. 1-6). 

1. Underlying Paul's exhibition of the 
glory and liberty of the new dispensation 
(iii. 7-18) was of course his own particular 
experience of it; it is fitting therefore that 
he should now express this experience in 
more personal terms. Therefore — i.e. con- 
sidering the glory and the liberty of the 
new dispensation, of which he is a mitt- 
ister — seeing that we are in possession 
of this ministry, not through any assump- 
tion or claim of our own, but in accord- 
ance with the mercy which has been 
shown us by God when He called us to it 
{ri\e7]driix€v^ aorist), we show no weakness, 
or faintness. The minister of such a dis- 
pensation, glorious and free, can be no 
coward. He is bound to speak sincerely, 
frankly, boldly, as he has already claimed 
to do (iii. 12). 

2. Timidity or cowardice leads to 
crookedness and subterfuge ; as Paul is no 
coward, he needs no subterfuge. He 
scorns all secret, underhand ways — such as 
probably his opponents employed — as dis- 
graceful; he repudiates, once for all, all 
connection with them. But, so far are we 
from indulging in the crooked methods to 
which timidity leads, that we have repu- 
diated (without, however, implying that he 
had ever used them) the hidden things 
of shame: whether rris aiaxi'^vs is ob- 
jective, "hidden things of disho)iesty;' or 
subjective, the things which a sense of 
shame leads a man to conceal, the phrase 
practically means " disgraceful secrecies." 
The particular crookedness which Paul 
here repudiates is craftiness in his life 
and especially in his preaching: he is not 
walking in craftiness nor adulterating 
the word of God, that is, the gospel, by 
blending with it, from whatever motive, 
elements that did not properly belong to it 
(cf. ii. 17). His Judaistic opponents did 
so adulterate it, by insisting upon the con- 
comitant validity of the Mosaic dispensa- 
tion. Not so Paul — his only methods are 
those of absolute sincerity and candor. 
He had been accused of " commending " 
himself (cf. iii. i). It is true, he says; 
but he owes his commendation not to let- 
ters, nor to any plausible adulteration of 



Ch. IV] 



II COKINTHIANS. 



145 



3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to 
them that are lost: 

4 In whom the god of this world hath 
bhnded the minds of them which believe 



not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of 
Christ, who is the image of God, should 
shine unto them. 



his message, but simply and solely to his 
sincerity, a sincerity which is admitted by 
even an unsophisticated conscience, and upon 
which he does not fear the scrutiny of the 
divine eye. In our preaching there is no 
deception; on the contrary, it is by mak- 
ing the truth, the real gospel, plain that 
we commend ourselves in relation to 
every human conscience in the sight of 
God. As the minister of a free and 
glorious dispensation, Paul is bound ' not 
to adulterate his message or to mystify 
his audiences. The truth must not be 
handled deceitfully or even obscurely : 
Paul's title to commendation is that he 
makes it plain {(jiavepwaei) — with great 
effect this phrase, " by the manifestation of 
the truth," is put first. His frank and 
fearless presentation of the gospel is re- 
lated to (tt/oos), appeals to, the conscience: 
if there be a conscience which resists the 
appeal, so much the worse for that con- 
science : it is clearly that of a man who 
is perishing (ver. 3). But from the stand- 
point of the preacher, the appeal, being 
as honest as it is earnest, is triumphantly 
made to every (irdaav) human conscience. 
And lest the appeal to a human {dvOpojTrwv) 
conscience should not be an absolute test 
of integrity and sincerity, Paul reminds 
his hearers that he is conscious of utter- 
ing it in the sight of GOD (cf. ii. 17). 
Beyond this, there is no appeal. One who 
is not afraid to appeal to every human 
conscience, and even to God Himself, has 
surely vindicated himself amply of any 
charge of cowardice or duplicity. 

3, 4. Still, brave and sincere as was 
Paul's presentation of _ the gospel, there 
were some by whom it was repudiated, 
some to whom _ it was veiled: how could 
that be? But if our gospel — the gospel 
preached so plainly (ver. 2) by us — IS 
(Acai emphasizes €<jtlv) veiled, it is in the 
case of the perishing that it is veiled. 
Those who repudiate the gospel as preached 
by Paul ivi^^v) stand self-condemned: the 
veil, of which they complain, is on their 
hearts (iii. 15), and they are on the way 
to destruction {dwoWv fievo ts) . They con- 
stitute the class unaffected by " the sweet 
savor of Christ" (ii. 15), and for whom 
it will prove itself a savor of death. They 
are those whose unbelieving minds (lit. 
thoughts) the god of this world (i.e. 
Satan) has blinded; literally "in whom 



the god of this age, blinded the thoughts 
of the unbeheving." Grammatically, the 
sentence is overloaded : we expect, " whose 
thoughts the god . . . blinded," or if the 
sentence had been made independent, " but 
he blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving." 
In its present form, the last clause, " of 
the unbelieving," is unnecessary, and even 
redundant, as the blinded thoughts are 
clearly those of " them that are perishing," 
and the grammatical awkwardness of the 
clause has suggested to one scholar that 
it is a gloss. Too much grammatical pro- 
priety, however, should not be expected in 
the swift epistolary style of St. Paul. The 
words have a propriety of their own. 
They help to fix the responsibility for 
the ruin of " them that are perishing " 
upon the men themselves and their own 
unbelief, as well as upon the devil who 
blinds them. It is such men, unbelievers, 
men with the veil upon their hearts, whom 
the devil blinds : and his blinding of them 
is more dreadfully effective than the veil. 
Unbelief (of the heart) is the road to 
blindness and ultimate destruction. The 
"god of this age" (aicjv) — that is, the 
age till Christ comes again, when the true 
God shall be "all in all" (i Cor. xv. 28) 
— is Satan ; a remarkable utterance for 
one whose monotheism was so thorough- 
going as was Paul's : he is expressing him- 
self in accordance with the conceptions of 
his time, cf. Eph. ii. 2, " the prince of the 
powers of the air"; in John xii. 31 (cf. 
xiv. 30) he is called " the prince of this 
world." The phrase suggests a deadly or- 
ganized opposition to the gospel on the 
part of unseen demonic forces, to prevent 
the dawning of the light (lit. illumina- 
tion) of the gospel of the glory of Christ, 
who must indeed be very glorious, as He 
is the image of God. A. V. somewhat 
misses the point in its rendering " the 
glorious gospel of Christ " : more correct 
would be " the gospel of the glorious 
Christ," the Christ who ushered in the 
new and glorious dispensation (iii.)j 
though doubtless the gospel which reflects 
Him (iii. 18) is glorious too. Most of 
the best MSS. omit avrols (unto them) 
after avydaat ; the omission perhaps more 
effectively suggests the deadliness of the 
opposition organized by the " god of this 
age " to the progress of the gospel — his 
aim is to keep it not only from shining 



146 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. IV 



5 For we preach not ourselves, but 
Christ Jesus the Lord ; and ourselves your 
servants for Jesus' sake. 

6 For God, who commanded the light 



to shine out of darkness, hath shined in 
our hearts, to giz'c the light of the knowl- 
edge of the glory of God in the face of 
Jesus Christ. 



upon them (those whom he has blinded) 
but from shining at all. The exceeding 
glory of Christ is powerfully suggested 
by the words " who is the image of God," 
the visible image of the invisible God. The 
light that streams from His glory, brilliant 
as it is, remains unseen by those whom 
unbelief has blinded. 

5. Paul has been accused by his oppo- 
nents of preaching " himself." How im- 
possible and absurd this charge must have 
sounded to one who was conscious of 
standing evermore within such a blaze of 
heavenly glory, and whose whole ambition 
in life was to interpret that glory to 
others, and to bring them within its illu- 
minating power. One whose theme was 
no less than the exalted and glorious Christ 
— the very image of God Himself, surely 
could not be guilty of preaching himself. 
Those who made the charge may have 
meant, that, as Paul had not known the 
earthly Jesus, his preaching of Him rested 
only on his imagination, not on objective 
fact — that therefore he preached himself, 
his own ideas, speculations, etc ; but this is 
not so. For it is not ourselves that we 
preach, but the glorious Christ Jesus; 
and we preach Him (as) Lord, so that 
you need have no fear, as you seem to 
hafe, of owr t3^rannizing (Kvpievo/nev^ i. 24) 
over you. On the contrary, we preach 
Him as Lord, and ourselves (as) your 
servants, for Jesus' sake: it is for His 
sake that we serve you — that you may be 
brought within the glorious dispensation 
which He created, and that through the 
proclamation of His gospel the knowledge 
of the glory of God may illuminate your 
hearts. 

6. This verse explains ver. 5. As it 
is God who gave Paul the illumination, 
and gave it to him for the illumination 
of others (to serve them in the gospel for 
Jesus' sake) how can he possibly preach 
himself? For the God, who said at 
creation (cf. Gen. i. 3) "Out of darkness 
shall shine light," (He it is) who shone 
in our hearts. The MSS. waver between 
Xafixf/ei (as translated above) and Xa^'/'at 
(infin.) which would mean, "God who 
commanded the light to shine out of dark- 
ness." There is a fine contrast here be- 
tween the work of God and that of the 
devil: the latter blinds men. the former 
shines in upon their hearts, and illumines 



them. Human hearts are dark, till they 
are thus illumined ; a veil is upon them, 
till it is removed by conversion to Christ 
(iii. 15, 16). Conversion is like creation; 
it is indeed a new and greater creation — 
for while, at creation, God commanded 
the light to shine, in conversion it is He 
Himself who shines. Behind this broad 
statement lie's the particular experience of 
Paul's own conversion. There he was 
smitten by a light of overwhelming glory, 
and the face from which the glory shone 
was the face of Christ, a steady and abid- 
ing glory, which Paul from that hour had 
never ceased to see, and which would 
shine for ever — unlike the transient glory 
which lit the face of His great antitype 
Moses (iii. 7). It is not quite clear 
whether the last clause ^pos (pcoTiafiov , , . 
XptaToO ("with a view to the illumination 
of the knowledge, etc.") is intended to 
elaborate the idea of shining (He shone 
in wv heart to give light to me of the 
knowledge, etc.) or whether it adds to the 
simple thought of shining the idea that the 
light must be diffused (He shone in my 
heart to give light to others). Something 
can be said for both views. On the one 
hand, it was on the shining face of Christ 
at his conversion that Paul saw and became 
aquainted with the glory of God. On the 
other hand, the previous verse had ended 
by representing Paul as the servant of the 
Corinthians for Jesus' sake; that is, he 
must preach among them, that the light 
which shines in his heart may arise and 
shine in thejrs. The possibilities are so 
evenly balanced that it is hard to decide 
lietwecn them. In either case. God shone 
in Paul's heart to bring the light (whether 
to himself, or. through him, to others) of 
the knowledge of the glory of God in 
the face of Christ. 



Paul claims to be a man who abhors sub- 
terfuge and compromise, all crooked and 
diplomatic dealing, especially in his life as 
a preacher. He is a man of uncompro- 
mising sincerity, who feels the holy obliga- 
tion to Dioke the truth plain, and who 
speaks straight home to the consciences of 
men. This openness of speech and conduct 
he has, because he is conscious of standinjBf 
within the liglit. The glorious light which 
broke upon him in the way to Damascus, 



Ch. IV] 



II COEINTHIANS. 



147 



7 But we have this treasure in earthen 
vessels, that the excellency of the power 
may be of God, and not of us. 

8 We are troubled on every side, yet 



not distressed ; we are perplexed, but not 
in despair; 

9 Persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast 
down, but not destroyed ; 



the shining face of Christ upon which he 
saw the unutterable glory of God, have 
continued not only to haunt him but to 
shine upon him ; and, as he walks in that 
lightj conscious of its illumination and ob- 
ligation, his life becomes transparent as 
the day. To such a man artifice, diplomacy, 
and self-laudation, are an impossibility, and 
he repudiates the charge with earnestness 
and sorrow (cf. i. 17 ff.). 

In verses 4-6 there is a suggestive view 
— just indicated, not elaborated — of history 
as a Titanic conflict between the powers 
of light and of darkness. There are forces, 
organized, as it were, under some " god 
of this world," conspiring to intensify the 
unbelief of men who reject Jesus and to 
blind them altogether : forces whose dia- 
boHcal and deliberate aim is " to prevent 
the dawning of the gospel of the glory 
of Christ," and to set men on the road to 
destruction. But against them evermore 
fights the great God of Hght, who out of 
the deepest darkness can command light 
to arise. Into veiled and blinded hearts, 
when they turn to the Lord (iii. 16), a 
great light streams from His shining face, 
and it is day. Those who have the light 
are divinely summoned to diffuse it : this 
is their share in the conflict with dark- 
ness. " We are 3^our servants for Jesus' 
sake." 



The Fragile Vessel and the Glorious 
Treasure (iv. 7-15). 

In the preceding sections, Paul has been 
speaking much of glory. The dispensation, 
of which he is a minister, is one of exceed- 
ing glory. ^ The Lord of it is a Lord of 
glory. It is, in one aspect, His glory that 
is the theme of the gospel. From His 
resplendent face it is the glory of God Him- 
self that shines. And those who behold 
the glory of the Lord are themselves trans- 
formed into the same image from glory 
to glory. God, Christ, the new dispensa- 
tion and its ministers, all alike are glorious. 

To the opponents of Paul there may 
have seemed something incongruous, and 
almost ridiculous, in these bold claims of 
his to glory. So far from advancing from 
glory to glory (iii. 18) "his bodily pres- 
ence, they say, is weak and his speech of 
no account" (x. 10). The external ap- 



pearance of Paul did not at all suggest 
the glory by which the man within was 
illuminated. Besides, the anxieties and 
dangers by which he was continually be- 
set had worn him out before his time : 
they were killing him, as this paragraph 
expressively hints ; and there are some who 
even believe that his opponents regarded 
his sufferings as divine chastisement. The 
contrast between his appearance and his 
claims was indeed glaring : how could they 
be reconciled? This contrast and recon- 
ciliation we now proceed to consider. 

7. But we have this treasure, that is, 
the knowledge of the glory of God in 
the face of Jesus Christ (ver. 6), and 
perhaps, in a larger sense, the glorious 
ministry of the gospel, in earthen vessels, 
that is, in bodies mortal (ver. 11) and 
therefore frail, and exposed, as was Paul, 
to special dangers, assaults, and harassing 
experiences. But that such a treasure 
should reside in such a body was really 
no more astonishing than that gold or 
silver should be deposited, as was some- 
times done, in vessels of earthenware. It 
is never safe to argue from the vessel to 
the _ treasure. Indeed, this very incon- 
gruity between vessel and treasure serves 
a divine purpose : it is in order that the 
excess of the power, the apostle's extraor- 
dinary and triumphant activity, altogether 
in excess of anything that one would nat- 
urally have expected from one so worn as 
he, ^ should be recognized to be God's 
(tov Qeov) and not to have its source 
(e|) in us. How could such a man ac- 
complish such an exceeding mighty work? 
Clearly, answers the apostle, as the power 
displayed is out of all proportion to the 
rnan himself, it can not have come from 
him, it can therefore only be God's (cf. 
xii. 9). 

8, 9. These verses elaborate the con- 
trast between the frail body, vexed and 
harassed on all sides, and the divine power 
which not only sustains him, but evermore 
enables him to rise fresh (ver. 16) and 
triumphant. In every (direction) pressed 
but not inextricably (lit. nez'er driven 
info a place so narrozc that there is no es- 
cape from it), perplexed but not to des- 
peration (for this word play, dTropovfxevoL 
and e^a-rropovfievoi, impossible to render ade- 
quately in English, cf. note on i. 13) pur- 
sued, but never forsaken by God, thrown 



148 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. IV 



10 Always bearing about in the body 
the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life 
also of Jesus might be made manifest in 
our body. 

11 For we which live are alway deliv- 
ered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the 
life also of Jesus might be made manifest 
in our mortal flesh. 



12 So then death worketh in us, but 
life in you. 

13 We having the same spirit of faith, 
according as it is written, I believed, and 
therefore have I spoken ; we also believe, 
and therefore speak; 



down to the ground, but never to perish. 
This swift succession of passive participles, 
shows how fierce were the circumstances 
with which Paul had to contend, and which, 
but for the sustaining grace of God, would 
inevitably have brought him to despair and 
destruction. There is no real contradiction 
between the statement in i. 8 that he had 
actually despaired of life, and the " never 
despairing" of ver. 8 here. The former 
phrase illustrates the unusual peril to 
which Paul was on that occasion exposed, 
the latter his general attitude (pres. ptc.) 
to all peril. 

10. The varied experiences suggested by 
vv. 8, 9 are summed up and illuminated 
in ver. 10: evermore (rravTOTe corresponds 
to e" TTOj'Tt, ver. 8) in my missionary 
travels (Trepi) bearing about in the body 
the dying of Jesus. The fierceness of 
the experiences with which Paul was being 
continually confronted, already plain enough 
from vv. 8, 9, are pathetically illustrated 
by the word veKpwais : they constituted a 
continual process of death. They were 
gradually killing him, and would one day 
kill him. But his consolation and his joy 
was that he shared this experience with 
Jesus. He, too, and in similar ways, had 
been subjected to a gradual dying, which 
had culminated in His death on the cross ; 
and the disciple is content and even glad 
to be as his master. The word Jesus re- 
calls his earthly, historical, experiences of 
suffering. This continual experience of 
dying, this daily facing of death and daily 
triumph over it — for Paul is still alive 
and working mightily (ver. 7) — has for 
its object that the life also of Jesus may 
be made manifest in our body. The 
body which was the seat of the dying, 
must also be the seat of the triumph over 
the menace of death : and the triumph was 
effected by the living Jesus. It was tJie 
life of Jesus, of the risen and exalted 
Jesus, that was made manifest in him. 
He shared alike the dying and the life 
of Jesus. Paul saw in his daily deliver- 
ance from death not only a witness to 
the power of his living Lord, but an iden- 
tity of his own life with that of his Lord. 
It was actually the life of Jesus Himself 



that was coming to visibility in him, and 
it so came because he was willing to die 
continually for Jesus' sake. As Professor 
Denney says, " To wear life out in the 
service of Jesus is to open it to the en- 
trance of Jesus' life " {Expositor's Bible, 
2 Cor. p. 163). 

II, 12. The thought which ver. 10 had 
expressed mystically, ver. 11 expresses 
more definitely. For we, who are alive, 
are being continually delivered over 
unto death — alive indeed, but with this 
continual menace of death — for Jesus' 
sake, in order that the life also of Jesus 
may be made manifest in our mortal 
flesh. This sentence corresponds to and 
elucidates ver. 10: cf. a", iravTore: the 
rare and difficult phrase " the dying of 
Jesus " is replaced by the simpler and less 
profound " delivered to death for Jesus' 
sake," and the " body " becomes the " mor- 
tal flesh." The exhibition of the life of 
Jesus in bodies of frail and mortal flesh 
is peculiarly wonderful ; and this is the 
divine purpose of the apostle's daily ex- 
posure to death. Not all such exposure 
manifests the life of Jesus, but only such 
as is undergone for Jesus' sake. The suf- 
fering which is for His sake, is conceived 
in ver. 10 as shared with Him — the true 
counterpart, and, as it were, the contin- 
uation of His own. There is something 
unusually tender and impressive about the 
fourfold repetition of the name Jesus in 
this passage. It is charged with the 
memory of His earthly sufferings, which 
are repeated and perpetuated in those that 
are His. Consequently death works in 
us, but life in you. Paul, though yet 
alive (cf. ol fwj/res, ver. 11) is slowly, but 
surely dying — dying, however, for Jesus* 
sake; it is part of his ministry of Jesus, 
and by that ministry, by the gospel of 
Jesus which he proclaims, life is operative 
in the Corinthians. Their lii-ing flows 
from his dying: the life that is operative 
in them is the life that is manifested in 
him — the life of Jesus. 

13. Paul has just spoken of the death 
which is working in him : meantime, how- 
ever, he might say, with the Psalmist 
(cxviii. 17) he is not dead, but lives, and 



Ch. IV] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



149 



14 Knowing that he which raised up the 
Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, 
and shall present us with you. 

15 For all things are for your sakes, 



that the abundant grace might through the 
thanksgiving of many redound to the glory 
of God. 



declares the works of the Lord. Withm 
him works the mighty spirit of faith, giv- 
ing him both vision and confidence : and 
in this strength and inspiration he fear- 
lesslv proclaims the gospel. But we, pos- 
sessing as we do the same spirit of faith 
as the ancient Psalmist — in accordance 
with that which is written in Ps. cxvi. 
10, namely, "I had faith, therefore I 
spoke"— we also have faith, therefore 
we also speak. He recognizes his spiritual 
kinship with one of Israel's ancient singers, 
whose faith impelled him to utterance : he, 
too, — (xai vfiels, for the ages are linked 
each to each by the bond of faith)— in- 
spired by the same spirit of faith, boldly 
proclaims the gospel. The meaning of the 
Hebrew words, of which Paul quotes the 
Septuagint translation, is rather uncertain 
— perhaps "I believe (my faith is fixed) 
when I speak"; but the main point, the 
connection of faith with utterance, is un- 
ambiguous. TJie spirit of faith is the spirit 
connected with faith, the spirit which 
manifests itself where faith is present. 
True faith is not silent, but brave and 
vocal. It impels Paul to preach the gos- 
pel, though it is gradually costing him his 
Hfe, that the Hfe of Jesus may be operative 
in others. The obvious connection in 
Greek between ttiVtis and TTLarevo/xev is 
somewhat obscured by the English " faith " 
and "we beheve"; hence the rendering 
" we have faith." 

14. Paul's persistency and courage in 
preaching the gospel are due, in part, to 
his mighty faith in the future — ^^in par- 
ticular to his faith in the resurrection. He 
is sustained by his vision of the day when 
he would be " raised up " and " presented " 
in company with his Corinthian converts. 
Or it would be more correct to say that 
this is to the apostle not so much matter 
of faith as of knozi^ledge: he speaks know- 
ing that He (that is, God), who raised 
up (the Lord: omitted in some MSS.) 
Jesus will raise up us also with Jesus 
and present (us) with you. He is sure of 
the resurrection (cf. v. i), and he can 
afford to be brave. Instead of crvv, some 
MSS. read 5ta 'Ivo-ov — so A. V. (by, 
through Jesus). But (tvj^ (zvith), besides 
being better attested, is more profound, 
and finely suggests the fellozcship of Paul 
in the resurrection experience of Jesus, as 
before in His "dying" (ver. 10). Jesus, 



of course, has already been raised, and 
the zvith has led some scholars to inter- 
pret the " raising " which Paul here has 
in view for himself, as the daily resur- 
rection from the menaces of death (cf. 
vv. 10, 11) which prove that the resur- 
rection life of Jesus is in Him. But the 
" presentation " shows that Paul has in view 
the final and literal resurrection. This pas- 
sage seems to be cast in a different mold 
from others in which he expects to be alive 
at the coming of Christ (cf. i Thes. iv. 15) ; 
but he had already, once at least (2 Cor. i. 
8) drawn so near the gates of death that 
he contemplates his death before that con- 
summation as altogether possible. But he 
knozi'S that he will rise (or, to be more 
correct, "be raised") zvith Jesus — not of 
course, in point of time, but that he will 
sJiare Jesus' resurrection experience. The 
precise idea to be attached to the word 
" He will present " is somewhat uncertain : 
it is usually interpreted of appearing " be- 
fore the judgment-seat of Christ" (cf. v. 
10). If that be so, at any rate the asso- 
ciations of that presentation are, for Paul 
and his converts, not stern but kindly. 
It is the thought of this great consumma- 
tion that sustains and emboldens Paul amid 
danger and persecution, and when face to 
face with death. Very tender and affec- 
tionate are the concluding words z^ith you, 
which_ are given the place of emphasis. 
He will be presented in company with his 
beloved converts ; and this is the vision 
that heartens him. 

^ 15. Yes : his converts are uppermost in 
his thoughts. For all those things that 
I have done and suffered (vv. 8-1 1) (are) 
for your sakes, that, in this world " life 
may be operative in them " (ver. 12) and 
that, in the world to come, they may be 
" raised " and " presented " ; in particular, 
that the divine favor, which was mul- 
tiplied by being diffused among many 
(lit. the more), should render the thanks- 
giving abundant unto the glory of God. 
The meaning appears to be that the grace 
shown to Paul, through which his life has 
been spared and his strength sustained, 
may, through his ministry, diffuse its 
blessed and quickening (ver. 12) influence 
over a wider area, thus multiplying itself; 
this grace then ought to be gratefully and 
abundantly acknowledged, and thus God 
will be glorified. There is an obvious 



150 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. IV 



i6 For which cause we faint not; but 
though our outward man perish, yet the 
inward man is renewed day by day. 



17 For our hght affliction, which is but 
for a moment, worketh for us a far more 
exceeding and eternal weight of glory ; 



word play (cf. ver. 8) in irXeopdaaaa, 
irXeLovcjv (" rendered manifold through the 
many"), and in X^P's, evxap^f^rla {grace, 
gratitude). There are several other ways, 
however, of construing this sentence, ac- 
cording as we regard (a) irXeovdaaaa as 
transitive (governing evxaptaTiav, " having, 
through the greater number, multiplied the 
thanksgiving") or intransitive (as above) ; 
(b) 5ta as governing tCov irXeiouwv (as 
above) or ttjv evxapLo-riai' ("on account of 
the thanksgiving of the greater number " ; 
so A. V.) ; (c) ireptaaevav as transitive (as 
above) or intransitive (as A. V. redound 
to the glory ,of God). Stanley explains, 
" in order that God's goodness, which, 
through the prayers of the greater part of 
you, has become greater to me, may make 
your thanksgiving greater, and so God's 
glory greater also." The passage strongly 
recalls i. 11. Just as faith should find ut- 
terance (ver. 13), so grace should elicit 
gratitude. 



What a harassed and tempestuous life 
Paul must ^ have had! The participles in 
verses 8 and 9 are charged with a mul- 
titude of vexatious experiences, which, 
would have driven a smaller man to de- 
spondency, if not to despair (ver. 8). But 
in all things he is more than conqueror, 
because he is conscious of being sustai-ned 
by a strength not his own. The indomita- 
ble will which he threw into his missionary 
work, the iron energy with which he pros- 
ecuted it, were clearly not his own. How 
could so frail and slender a body have 
carried on a warfare so tremendous in its 
own strength ? The power that shines so 
triumphantly through the bodily weakness 
is not his, but God's. The life that bids 
daily defiance to death is the life of Jesus, 
that is expressing and revealing itself in 
him. 

Therein lies the secret of his power — 
in his consciousness of union with {cvv) 
Jesus: us too with Jesus — that is his 
motto (ver. 14). He suffers not only for 
Jesus' sake (ver. 11), but as Jesus suffered 
(ver. 10) ; and as he shares His suffering, 
so will he also share His resurrection. It 
is upon this glorious hope, or rather cer- 
tainty (eidores, ver. 14) that he sustains 
his harassed soul. The life of Jesus is 
indeed in him, but the resurrection is be- 
fore him. His faith gives him at once 



vision and courage — a courage born in 
part of the vision. Well might a man, be 
he preacher or other, do his work with 
fearless enthusiasm amid persecution and 
opposition, whose eyes were steadfastly 
fixed upon the day, when he and those 
for whom he had successfully labored 
would be raised and presented to Christ. 

A. fine sense of the spiritual kinship sub- 
sisting between men of faith, breathes 
throughout the paragraph. Paul looks back 
across the centuries and feels himself one 
with the psalmist who had spoken, because 
he had believed. He is one with his con- 
verts, and looks forward to the glad day 
when he will be " presented " with them. 
And he is one with Jesus — one in suffer- 
ing and death, and one in the resurrection- 
life. 



The Glorious Hope (iv. i6-v. 5). 

The secret of the apostle's invincible 
courage he has already made plain : he is 
sustained by the life of Jesus which is 
daily manifesting itself in him, amid weak- 
ness and distress, and he is sustained by 
the sure hope of the resurrection. This 
hope he now proceeds to illustrate more 
fully. 

16. On this account, sustained as we 
are by the life of Jesus, and by the hope 
of resurrection, we show no weakness. 
For a similar claim and a similar reason, 
cf. ver. I. How could one who was in 
possession of such a ministry (ver. i) and 
such a hope, play the coward? But, 
though, as a matter of fact (indie.) our 
outward man — the frail, mortal body, 
which, though sustained by the life of 
Jesus, is nevertheless on the way to death 
(vv. 8-11) —is being gradually destroyed, 
nevertheless our inward man (his moral 
and spiritual personality) is being re- 
newed day and day. Every morning Paul 
feels a new accession of strength and joy, 
as he faces afresh the work God had given 
him to do. His spirit knew no weakness 
or weariness: it is not subject to the law 
of decay and death. 

17. Verse 17 shows what Paul means 
by the daily renewal of the inward man. 
For the lightness of our affliction, which 
is for the moment, that is. wiiich lasts 
only till (loath or the coming of Christ, 
is working out for us, more and more 



Ch. IV] 



II COEINTHIANS. 



151 



i8 While we look not at the things 
which are seen, but at the things which are 
not seen : for the things which are seen are 
temporal ; but the things which are not 
seen are eternal. 



CHAPTER 5. 

I For we know that, if our earthly- 
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we 
have a building of God, a house not made 
with hands, eternal in the heavens. 



exceedingly, an eternal weight of glory 

(cf. Rom. viii. i8). The glory is accom- 
plished by the suffering — its natural fruit. 
The phrase ^ad' virepPoXriv els virepPoXrjv 
(lit. "in exceeding measure and unto an 
exceeding issue ") must go with the verb, 
as it cannot go with the noun (so A. V.) 
nor yet with the adjective: that which is 
eternal cannot be more so. The affliction 
is real — so real, as we have seen, that it 
is gradually killing Paul (ver. lo) ; but to 
eyes fixed upon the glory, it is light. If 
the one were weighed against the other, 
the glory would be beyond all comparison, 
the heavier — there is a very weight of 
glory. Again, in duration, as in weight, 
there is no comparison; the affliction will 
last onlv till death or Jesus comes, the 
glory will last for ever. The glory is 
more than moral and spiritual, it is all 
the glory of the new age which is ushered 
in with the coming of Christ. 

i8. It is those who have eyes 
{cKoirovvTOJv) for the unseen glories, that 
experience the daily renewal (ver. i6). 
The passing affliction works out the eternal 
glory, because we look not at the things 
whiclj are seen, but at the things which 
are not seen; for the things which are 
seen are but for a season — temporary 
rather than temporal — but the things 
which are not seen are eternal. The 
phrase " the things which are seen " is 
capable of a large interpretation, nor 
would this interpretation be illegitimate : 
but its immediate application is to the af- 
fliction (ver. 17) and sufferings which came 
upon Paul in the discharge of his evangelic 
ministry.^ Pie does not fix his eyes upon 
these things ; he looks through them to 
the glory beyond. They are temporary; 
they will cease at death, or perhaps even 
before death, if Christ, whom Paul is ex- 
pecting, should come. The " things which 
are not seen " are his aim, his goal 
(<r/co7r6s). Perhaps this phrase is not to be 
interpreted in too severely spiritual a 
sense. As Bengel has pointed out, Paul 
does not say " the invisible things " ; and 
his meaning may be, " the things which 
are not yet seen " — the as yet unseen 
glories of the world to come, upon which 
one day the eye will rest with quiet joy. 

V. I. Paul has just spoken (iv. 17) of 



the eternal weight of glory which is to 
be the issue and crown of his earthly af- 
fliction. Of this glory he has no doubt; 
for he knozis that the earthly body which, 
like a tent, will be taken down at death, 
will be replaced — whether then or at the 
coming of Christ — by another, a heavenly 
body. For we know that if our earthly 
tent-house be broken up, as it will be 
by death, we have not merely a tent but 
a building from God — He is its source 
(e/c) and creator — a house not made with 
hands (that is, supernatural), eternal (un- 
hke the tem.porary tent), in the heavens. 
The comparison — familiar to Pythagorean 
philosophy — of the earthly body to a tent, 
would be peculiarly natural to one who 
had himself been a tent-maker (Acts xviii. 
3). The earthly body shares the frailty 
and temporariness of the tent, the heavenly 
body partakes of the stability and per- 
manence of a building, especially as it is 
a building whose maker is God. The 
contrast recalls that between the tent and 
the city in Hebrews xi. 9, 10. The house 
to which Paul looks forward is not heaven 
itself, it is in heaven : it is the heavenly 
body not made with hands. The same 
epithet could also be fairly applied to the 
natural body, and this too is from God 
(i Cor. xii. 24) ; but the resurrection body 
is divine in a special sense (cf. i Cor. xv. 
38), and the epithet here is something like 
our " supernatural." This body is eternal, 
the tent-body upon the earth {eiriyeLos : not 
"made of earth") is transient, dissolved 
at death. How has Paul this definite as- 
surance {oUafiev^ cf. iv. 14) of the heavenly 
body? If, in spite of the plural number, 
he is speaking merely for himself, his as- 
surance may be a gift of the spirit (cf. 
ver. 5), it is an inward certainty. If, how- 
ever, the words " we know " have to be 
interpreted generally, they may, as Bousset 
suggests, be taken to refer to " apocalyptic 
teachings and traditions, well-known to him 
and his readers," but no longer known to 
us. The other interpretation, however, 
seems the more natural (cf. iv. 14). 

Simple as the words of this verse are, 
its precise meaning is very difficult to de- 
termine. One thing is certain — Paul dis- 
tinctly contemplates the possibility of his 
own death before the coming of Christ. 



152 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. V 



2 For in this we groan, earnestly desir- 
ing to be clothed upon with our house 
which is from heaven: 



3 If so be that being clothed we shall 
not be found naked. 



He longs indeed to be among those who 
will not die but be changed (i Cor. xv. 
51) ; but recent experience has brought him 
so close to death (2 Cor. i. 8), that he 
feels that his "daily deliverance unto 
death for Jesus' sake" (iv. 11) may well 
issue in death itself. If so, what then? 
His answer is that, instead of the fallen 
tent, we have — and we are sure of it — a 
divine house, that is, a celestial, supernat- 
ural body. What does he mean by "we 
have it?" Does he mean: we have it now, 
it is ours already, laid up for us "in the 
heavens ? " And if so, how are we to con- 
ceive the relation of this body to the 
earthly body? would there be any strict 
and necessary relation at all, as, e.g. be- 
tween the seed and the grain (i Cor. xv 
38) ? Or does the apostle mean we shall 
have a heavenly body, using the present 
tense C^xof^^^) to indicate the vividness 
with which he realizes it? And if he 
means "we sJiall have," is that body to 
be given immediately at death, or not till 
the coming of Christ? 

Some scholars prefer to believe that this 
body is given at death — the frail tent- 
body, at its dissolution, being instantly re- 
placed by the divine eternal body; in that 
case, the dead Christian enters at once 
and fully equipped upon his heavenly life. 
A general resurrection and judgment would, 
from this point of view, be superfluous; 
the soul's destiny has already been finally 
determined, and it has entered upon its 
new life in its appropriate celestial body. 
We have further to remember that the 
thought which Paul is here expressing is 
a consolatory thought, and any postpone- 
ment beyond death of the investiture with 
the heavenly body, would proportionally 
seem to deprive his thought of its consola- 
tion. At the same time, attractive as is 
the idea that the new body instantly re- 
places the old one at death, that is probably 
not Paul's meaning. His words must be 
compatible with the general resurrection 
and the judgment, both of which happen 
to be mentioned in the immediate context, 
the former in iv. 12, the latter in ver. 10. 
As these facts, especially perhaps the for- 
mer, would be depleted of their meaning, if 
the heavenly body were given immediately 
after death, it seems more reasonable to 
suppose that that body is regarded as be- 
ing given at the coming of Christ. In that 
case, between death and His coming, the 



believer would be in a bodiless state, the 
earthly body having perished and the 
heavenly having not yet been conferred. 
The apostle, however, did not regard this 
state as comfortless, or contemplate it 
with a shudder. Far from it ; for in it 
he could be at home with Christ (ver. 8), 
in an even more real sense than he could 
be in the body, real as was to him the 
presence of Christ in the body (iv. 10, 11). 
Even " Death shall not be able to separate 
us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord" (Rom. viii. 38!). The 
stages may then be conceived as follows. 
When the believer dies, he departs to be 
with Christ (cf. Phil. i. 23) ; when Christ 
comes again, he is clothed with his celestial 
body. 

2, 3. Paul is sure of receiving the 
heavenly body, therefore all the more does 
he sigh with longing for it. Best of all 
will it be, if the Lord comes while he is 
yet alive, so that he wall be spared the 
grim necessity of dying, of having the 
" tent " taken down, and thus the immortal 
body will be put, like a robe as it were, 
over {eirevbvcracdai) his mortal body. (No- 
tice the change of metaphor from a house 
to a garment.) To those who die, a body 
will be given, but those who are alive 
when He comes will be changed (i Cor. 
XV. 51), that which is mortal being szval- 
lowcd lip by the immortal which, as it were, 
descends upon it (ver. 4) ; and this is the 
happier consummation for which Paul 
longs. For indeed on this account — pos- 
sessing, as we do, so bright and sure a 
hope, cf. ver. i (this is better than to inter- 
pret ^v TovTw as "in this tabernacle": 
a-K-nvos, would be an awkward word to 
supply, as it is altogether subordinate in 
ver. I ; and there is no other word with 
which TovTO} can go) — we sigh (lit. 
groan) longing as \ve do to put on our 
habitation which is from heaven over 
(e7r) our mortal bodies, seeing that, when 
we have put it on, we shall not be found 
naked (that is, without a body, i Cor. xv. 
37). If Christ should come before Paul's 
death, he will have no naked, bodiless con- 
dition to undergo, as, according to the 
argument of ver. i (which see) he other- 
wise would. The variant readings etvep 
and e'Te, and still more evdvadfievot and 
eKdvadfievoi ("having put off/' i.e. the 
earthly body) attest the difficulty which 
from the beginning was felt to inhere in 
these verses. 



Ch. V] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



153 



4 For we that are in this tabernacle do 
groan, being burdened : not for that we 
would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that 
mortality might be swallowed up of life. 

5 Now he that hath wrought us for the 



selfsame thing is God, who also hath given 
unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 

6 Therefore we are always confident, 
knowing that, whilst we are at home in the 
body, we are absent from the Lord : 

7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 



4. Indeed we who are in the tent of 
the 'iarthly body sigh, burdened as we 
are with our desire — not to put it off 

but to put the heavenly body on over it, 
in order that that which is mortal might 
be swallowed up by the (r^s) immortal 
life. His desire is not simply to die : to put 
the earthly body off will be the highest 
pleasure only if the heavenly body be at 
once put on over (eirev) it, — if the mortal 
be absorbed, as it were, through its investi- 
ture with the heavenly body, the life; and 
this change is possible only to those who 
are alive at the coming of Christ (i Cor. 
XV. 51). ^ , 

5. Now what is the guarantee of these 
splendid hopes? The deep longing for 
them — (TT€pd^o/j.€v (we groan) occurs twice 
— may powerfully suggest, but it cannot 
absolutely prove their ultimate fulfilment. 
Their guarantee, however, is no other and 
no less than God Himself (6e6s, at end, 
emphatic). Now He who wrought us for 
this very thing, this investiture with the 
heavenly body, is God, and we may be 
confident (ver. 6) that the divine purpose 
will not be frustrated : the future is made 
certain by the pledge of it which we already 
possess and enjoy in the spirit. He is the 
God who gave us the pledge which con- 
sists in the spirit (cf. i. 22). 



Present or Absent, Well-pleasing to the 
Lord (6-10). 

One of the dominant notes of the last 
section had been sighing (vv. 2, 4) ; the 
key note of this is courage (vv. 6, 7). 
Pressed as Paul was on every side, pur- 
sued, and smitten down (iv. 8, 9), he 
would long unspeakably for the eternal 
weight of glory : but the possibility of his 
dying before Christ came, though it did 
not make that prospect any less certain, 
pushed it further away, and raised for him 
a new problem as to what would become 
of him and where he would be between 
death and the resurrection? Where are 
those who have "fallen asleep?" (cf. i 
Thes. iv. 14, i Cor. xi. 30, xv. 51). It is 
this situation that Paul looks bravely in 
the face, as he remembers that even death 



cannot separate him from the love of God 
in Christ, and that to die, to be absent 
from the body, is to be at home with Christ. 
The abruptness of the Greek in vv. 6, 7, 
and the double assertion of his confidence 
{dappovvT€s, dappoviiev) show how deeply 
moved was the soul of Paul as he faced 
the possibility of his death, and with what 
triumphant confidence he was prepared to 
meet it. 

6, 7. Being, then, courageous (cf. 
Acts xxiii. 11) at all times, as became one 
whose soul was sustained by so glorious a 
prospect, eind knowing that, so long as 
we are at home in the body, we are 
away from our home in the Lord — an 
utterance obviously not to be taken too 
strictly. Emphatically Paul has already 
said, or at least implied, that the life of 
the risen Jesus was being daily manifested 
in his own life (iv. 10, 11) : the presence 
of Jesus must have been to him a great 
and continuous reality. In the passage be- 
fore us, however, there appears to be 
something of the Greek notion that the 
body fetters the spirit; it belongs to a 
different order of being from the exalted 
Lord, and to be in it is, in a sense, to be 
away from Him; for it is through a realm 
of faith that we walk here below, not 
through a realm of actual appearance. 
The_ glory (iv. 17), and especially the 
glorious Lord we do not here see face to 
face. We trust them, we believe in them 
(TTt'o-rews), we are sure of them (iv. 14), 
but we do not actually see them, nor shall 
we until, after death, we enter that other 
order of being to which they belong. So 
here, in a sense, we must be content to 
be pilgrims and strangers: to be in the 
body is to be away from the Lord ; and 
as He, not it, is the soul's true home, the 
believer is only, in the profoundest sense 
at home with Him when he has left the 
body. But precisely therein lies the con- 
solation and the confidence of Paul — that 
then he is at home with the Lord, even 
before that Lord's final coming, and before 
he has been invested with the heavenly 
body. So, with the presence of Christ as- 
sured to the apostle, death has lost its terror 
and its chill. 



154 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. V 



8 We are confident, / say, and willing 
rather to be absent from the body, and to 
be present with the Lord. 

9 Wherefore w^e labour, that, whether 
present or absent, we may be accepted of 
him. 



10 For we must all appear before the 
judgment seat of Christ; that every one 
may receive the things done in his body, 
according to that he hath done, whether it 
be good or bad. 



8, g. Yes, we are courageous and well 
pleased, in spite of the natural shrinking 
from the bodiless condition which super- 
venes upon death, rather to be away from 
our home in the body and at home with 
(Trpos, in relation to) the Lord. Though 
the apostle sighs (vv. 2-4) for the swift 
and painless transformation which would 
be his, were the Lord to come suddenly 
before he died, he is able to contemplate 
his death with calm and fearless confidence, 
because it will only bring him into closer 
fellowship with Christ. Wherefore also, 
solaced and strengthened by the prospect 
of being at home with Him, it is our 
ambition, whether present in or absent 
from our home in the body, to be well- 
pleasing to Him. The thought of the 
Lord, into whose nearer fellowship death 
will bring us, ought to be not only a con- 
solation, but an inspiration and a stimulus 
to duty. With that fellowship in view, all 
life will be so ordered as to be well-pleas- 
ing to Him. This is the supreme ambition 
of all who believe in Him; and the impli- 
cation is that, it will be possible, so to 
please Him even after death (when we 
are "absent" from the body). 

10. The ambition to lead a life that 
will be w^ell-pleasing to Christ is strength- 
ened, if it needs any strengthening, by the 
solemn thought of His judgment-seat, be- 
fore which we shall ultimately have to 
stand. Well-pleasing to Him, for we must, 
all of us, be revealed in our true char- 
acter before the judgment-seat of Christ, 
in order that each individual man may 
receive exact requital for the things 
(done) through the medium of (5ta) the 
body, according to what he did (enpa^ev, 
aorist) when he was alive, whether good 
or bad. It is not simply that we shall 
have to appear (A. V.) before the judg- 
ment-scat, hut we shall there be manifested 
{(f)avepo}6rivai) , shown in our essential char- 
acter, stripped of all accident and dis- 
guise ; what we are will, in that august 
moment, be made plain, and each man of 
us {'^Kaaros) will carry off (Kofilartrai) his 
exact (Trp6s) deserts. The judgment will 
be a revelation. We are indeed saved by 
faith, yet the principle of retribution is not 
lost sight of, and the deeds done in this 
world by the agency of (5ta) the body, 



\w\\\ receive exact compensation before that 
great tribunal. In Rom. xiv. 10 " we shall 
all stand before the judgment-seat of God." 
The easy substitution of Christ here (also 
found in some inferior MSS. in Rom.) 
for God in Romans, shows the unique and 
divine authority with which, for Paul, 
Christ was invested. The expression is 
" taken from the tribunal of the Roman 
magistrate as the most august representa- 
tion of justice which the world then ex- 
hibited. The ' Bema ' was a lofty seat, 
raised on an elevated platform, usually at 
the end of the Basilica, so that the figure 
of the judge must have been seen tower- 
ing above the crowd which thronged the 
long nave of the building. So sacred and 
solemn did this seat appear in the eyes, not 
only of the heathen, but of the Christian 
society of the Roman empire, that when, 
two centuries later, the Basilica became 
the model of the Christian place of worship, 
the name of jS^/ua (or tribunal) was trans- 
ferred to the chair of the bishop ; and this 
chair occupied in the apse the place of the 
judgment-seat of the praetor." (Stanley.) 



Nothing is more characteristic of this 
section than Paul's clear and steadying 
vision of the future. He faces it as one 
who knows (v. I, cf. iv. 14), and he finds 
in it his consolation and inspiration. We 
have no means of ascertaining the details 
of Paul's situation at this time, but we 
know that he must have drawn very near 
the gates of death (i. 8). He had drunk 
deep of sorrow. Perplexity and persecu- 
tion were his constant companions, and he 
was slowly being killed for Jesus' sake (iv. 
9-11). He sighs for the end. earnestly and 
often (ver. 2, 4) ; y^i he shrinks from it. 
He shares the universal horror of dissolu- 
tion, and he is none the less dear to us 
for that : he would rather be spared the 
stroke of death, and the bodiless state 
which followed it. 

Nevertheless, he endures the present and 
faces the future bravely. He says to his 
heart, courage. " We do not grow faint- 
liearted, we are courageous and confident 
at all times" (iv. 16, v. 6, 8V And his 
courage comes from his vision of the 
future. He has the same sure grasp of un- 



Ch. V] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



155 



II Knowing therefore the terror of the 
Lord, we persuade men ; but we are made 



manifest unto God; and I trust also are 
made manifest in your consciences. 

12 For we commend not ourselves again 



seen realities as the writer of Psalm xci. 
and like him, too, he found in his faith a 
solace and a joy when his life was assailed 
by those subtle and powerful forces that 
threaten the peace and welfare of the soul. 
At the worst, he could but die before the 
coming of Christ. And, however strange 
might be the state into which death would 
usher him, it would at any rate bring him 
nearer to his Lord. Indeed, in a true sense, 
. death w^ould take him home. This life was 
after all but a pilgrimage — a pilgrimage 
towards the Lord. The hfe of Jesus was 
manifested no doubt even here, in his 
mortal flesh ; but beyond death, in an even 
more real sense, he would be with Him, — 
he would be at home. 

Then again there was always the possi- 
bility that he might be "taken" — that the 
Lord would come, and that he would sim- 
ply undergo that glorious change whereby 
that W'hich was mortal would be swallowed 
up of immortality. That is the transforma- 
tion for which he sighs. But whether that 
destiny is in store for him or not, he knows 
that in the heavens he has an everlasting 
house, he knows that he will wear the 
celestial' body ; and with that, amid all his 
sorrow and pain, he is content. He has 
eyes for the unseen things (iv. i8) ; he 
sees them as clearly as the affliction by 
which he is buffeted. His eye is upon the 
" eternal w^eight of glory," and already he 
lives with the quiet joy of eternity in his 
heart. Part of that glory is reflected back 
from the future into the dark and dis- 
heartening present ; and the two worlds 
are linked together by the service of Christ. 
How Christ may be served beyond death, 
when we are absent from the body, we do 
not know ; but it is my ambition, says 
Paul, whether present in or absent from 
the body," to be well-pleasing to Him. 
Such an ambition might well fill a troubled 
life with peace and joy. 

But the thought of the future was sol- 
emnizing as well as consoling. That future 
held a judgment-seat as well as a throne 
of glory. And before that seat all would 
have to appear, and the inner quality of 
their life w^ould be exposed to a white and 
searching light. There every man's real 
worth would be laid bare, and his reward 
would be in exact proportion to his worth. 
It is interesting to find Paul end this part 
of his argument with the thought of the 
judgment: it helps us to feel how bracing 



and strenuous a thing his religion was. 
It is not only or even chiefly a consolation, 
but an incentive to duty. The contempla- 
tion of the glory may lift a man over his 
afflictions, and enable him to regard them 
as a light thing; but the contemplation of 
the_ judgment-seat sobers, humbles, and 
purifies. 



The Constraining Love of Christ (v. 11-15). 

The passage that follows is involved in 
much difficulty, and the precise connection 
between the verses is often anything but 
obvious. In general, however, they contain 
a reassertion of the apostle's sincerity, and 
of his unselfish devotion to the welfare of 
the Corinthian church. 

II. This paragraph is intimately con- 
nected with the last {ovv) by the solemn 
and purifying thought of the judgment- 
seat. Knowing, then, as we have just ad- 
mitted, the fear of Christ, the Lord, at 
whose judgment-bar we shall have to 
stand to receive our deserts, and in whose 
presence the real secrets and quality of our 
life^ will be transparent, we persuade men. 
It is not clear whether, in this somewhat 
general phrase, Paul means that he per- 
suades men to embrace the gospel, or that 
he persuades them of his own sincerity; 
both are perhaps involved. But whether 
he is preaching or defending his motives, 
he always speaks with the solemn con- 
sciousness of his final accountability. In- 
deed, without waiting till he stands before 
the judgment-seat of Christ, he knows that 
his life is already searched, open, and trans- 
parent ; in his efforts to persuade me^^ 
{dvepwTTovs) he knows that he has to reckon 
with a present God (©ew) — hence he adds, 
and to God we are already permanently 
(perf.) manifest (cf. ver. 10). The future 
judgment, and the present consciousness of 
God, would be an effective deterrent to in- 
sincerity, did such exist. And I tmst, he 
adds, that the sincerity of my motives is 
manifest also in your individual (plur.) 
consciences. There were elements, perhaps, 
in Paul's demeanor to which a superficial or 
unsympathetic criticism might well have 
taken exception; but he appeals with hope- 
fulness (eXiri^io) to the deeper judgment 
of their conscience (cf. iv. 2). 

12. This solemn and emphatic asser- 
tion of his sincerity may look as if he 



156 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. V 



unto you, but give you occasion to glory on 
our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to 
answer them w^hich glory in appearance, 
and not in heart. 

13 For whether we be beside ourselves, 
it is to God : or whether we be sober, it is 
for your cause. 



14 For the love of Christ constraineth 
us; because we thus judge, that if one died 
for all, then were all dead: 

15 And that he died for all, that they 
which live should not henceforth live unto 
themselves, but unto him which died for 
them, and rose again. 



were guilty of self -commendation — appar- 
ently a frequent charge against the apostle 
(cf. iii. i). But the truth is, we are not 
again commending ourselves to you: he 
was simply asserting himself against the 
depreciation of his opponents, who were 
fond of emphasizing their own external 
and irrelevant advantages. But we make 
this assertion of our absolute sincerity, 
simply by way of giving you an occasion 
of boasting on our behalf, in order that 
you may have an answer to offer those 
who boast in surface appearances and 
not in heart. The contrast between the 
face (irpoaoiTTov) and the heai't (Kap8ia) is 
suggestive, but does not enable us to as- 
certain precisely the grounds on which 
Paul's detractors rested their claims to su- 
periority — probably, however, their con- 
nection with the Jerusalem church and the 
apostles, possibly even their acquaintance 
with Jesus : in any case, upon things which 
touched only the surface, not the heat^t of 
Christianity. 

13. It is difficult to connect this verse 
with the preceding verses. Paul has just 
been asserting his sincerity: he now seems 
to say, more specifically, that his action has 
been controlled by a pure and unselfish re- 
gard for the welfare of the Corinthian 
church. His conduct had been subjected to 
a double criticism. On the one hand, his 
ecstatic (e^earyjfiev) moods appear to have 
been made by some the subject of re- 
proach ; and his moderation and sobriety 
(ao}(f)povovfi€v) may have been interpreted 
as craft and worldly wisdom. Both these 
charges ignore the singleness and purity of 
his motive. For, if we indulged in ec- 
static moods, it was to God — that was a 
matter between God and myself; if on the 
other hand, we exercise sobriety, it is 
for you — in your interests. My conduct, 
whether of one kind or another, is never 
dictated by selfish interests : it looks out 
upon God or you, but never upon self. It 
is quite possible that i^earrjixev refers to 
the consmning enthusiasm which character- 
ized all Paul's work, and secured for him, as 
for his Master (Mark iii. 21, H^cttv) the 
reputation of being " beside himself " ; in 
that case, the words may be translated, as 
in A. R. V. "whether we arc beside our- 



selves"; but the choice of the aorist tense, 
which appears to be deliberately contrasted 
with the present <T03(})povovpLev^ rather points 
to a particular manifestation, in the past, 
of the ecstatic temper — possibly in a vision 
(cf. xii. I f¥.) possibly through speaking 
with tongues, in which Paul excelled ( i 
Cor. xiv. 18). His sobriety, shown in his 
tender regard for the idiosyncrasies of the 
individual and in his desire to meet them 
temperately, may have been interpreted as 
a cunningly obsequious attempt to " please 
all men in all things " ; but he implies now, 
what he had plainly said before, that he 
was " not seeking his own interest, but 
that of the many, that they might be 
saved" (i Cor. x. ^z) ■ Or the meaning 
may be, that though gifted with the power 
of speaking with tongues, he yet in a 
spirit of Christian sobriety, refused to ex- 
ercise that gift, because it contributed 
nothing to the edification of the church ; 
he restrained his ecstatic gift, and spoke in 
the church not with tongues, but " with 
the understanding." The exercise of the 
gift he indulged in only in private. — in 
such a way as concerned only God and him- 
self. 

14, 15. This verse lets us into the se- 
cret of Paul's unselfish devotion to God 
and to the church. He is kept in the straight 
and narrow way of unselfishness by the 
constraining love of Christ. For the love 
of Christ, that is, the love of Christ to 
him and to the world, not primarily his 
love to Christ, constrains us, hems me in 
(as a man is hemmed in by a crowd : same 
word in Luke viii. 45, awexovatv) and 
urges me on. Unselfishness is impossible 
to a man who knows and lives under this 
constraint: he will always have in view 
" not his own interest, but that of the 
many" (r Cor. x. 33V This constraint 
continually (pres. a-wexei) holds him, and 
it dates back to the time of his conversion, 
having then (aorist Kpivavras : not "because 
we thus judge. E. V.. A. R. V.) reached 
this decision that one died for all, there- 
fore they all (ol Tvavres^ died. Some MSS. 
insert d before «*? (this is the text fol- 
lowed by A. V. — if one died for all): 
the best omit it, tliough, if original, it 
might easily have fallen out before cts. 



Oh. V] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



157 



i6 Wherefore henceforth know we no known .Christ after the flesh, yet now 
man after the flesh : yea, though we have henceforth know we hi}ii no more. 



In any case, the stress falls upon the sec- 
ond clause, introduced by apa, not on the 
first ; and the meaning in both cases is 
practically identical. The constraining 
power of the love of Christ over Paul 
goes back to the decision that " all (among 
whom is Paul) died " — died in the death 
of Christ for them. His death was the 
supreme proof of His love (John xv. 13) ; 
He died for all, and all — at any rate all 
who appropriate His death — died in Him, 
died to their old self and its interests ; 
and for all such, dead to their former self, 
and constrained by the love of Christ, sel- 
fishness is for ever impossible. One for 
all: Christ is unique, the head of a new 
humanity, which, dying in His death, 
rises to a new life. " For all " does 
not quite mean instead of all, as vT^ep 
is not equivalent to avri: rather it means, 
for the advantage of all, ^ that is, for 
the forgiveness of their sin, and their rec- 
oncihation to God (ver. 19). And He 
died for all, in order that those who live 
should live no more to themselves, but 
to Him who for them died and was 
raised. Here is explicitly stated the object 
of His death, that men should die to self 
and live to Him. His death is not only 
the supreme rebuke of selfishness, but its 
annihilation, oi fw^res (those who live) is 
not a circumlocution for " all men," it 
means those who are now living the new 
life that followed their death with Christ. 
This life is for Him, and not for them- 
selves : they live for Him who died for 
them. Did He also rise again for them? 
In other words, is nal eyepOevrt added sim- 
ply to complete the picture of the risen, 
living Lord, to whom the service of the 
redeemed is due? or is vTrep avruiv to be 
taken with these words as well as with 
Tw d-TTodavovTi — to Him who for their sakes 
both died and rose again? Rom. iv. 25 
seems to look in the latter direction, ac- 
cording to which " He was raised for our 
justification." 



It says very little for human nature that 
such a man as Paul should have had to 
defend himself against the imputations of a 
selfish policy. If ever a man forgot and 
denied himself in the effort to serve and 
assert his Master, that man was Paul. 
Here he urges two motives, either of which 
would render any other conduct on his 
part altogether inconceivable. One is the 



thought of the judgment-seat of Christ, 
at the end, and the ever-present scrutiny 
of God here and now, before whom all 
his inner life is bare; the other is the 
thought of the infinite love of Christ, su- 
premelv manifested in His death. That 
love left him no alternative but to hve for 
Him who had died for him; and he lived 
for Him when he hved for those others 
for whom He had also died. This love 
was the destruction of every seed of selfish- 
ness ; it grasped his life round and round, 
it constrained him. Henceforth he can 
only live " no longer for himself, but for 
Him who died for all " and therefore for 
him; in another aspect, he lives vfilv {to 
you; ver. 13). It is the advantage, the sal- 
vation (tW awdoxjLv^ I Cor. X. 33) of 
others, that he now unintermittently con- 
siders. No other course is possible, for 
self is dead. 



The Nezv World (ver. 16, 17). 

16. These two verses powerfully elab- 
orate the idea, suggested by the last two, 
of the infinitely far-reaching effects of the 
death of Christ. In His death all died, 
and all the external distinctions that sep- 
arate men are annihilated. So that as for 
us (Vf^eis), however much stress my oppo- 
nents may lay upon their connection with 
the Jerusalem church and the apostles, or 
perhaps upon their acquaintance with Jesus 
Himself, from henceforth (that is, from 
the moment in which Paul saw the real 
meaning of the death of Christ, ver. 14), 
we refuse, in our estimate of men in gen- 
eral and even of Christ in particular, to 
give any weight to such external and ac- 
cidental things — we know no man after 
the flesh, not even Christ : though we 
have known Christ after the flesh, yet 
now we know Him so no more. To 
know a man after the Hesh is to attach 
importance, in our estimate of him, to that 
which is, truly considered, but superficial ; 
it is to look at the face, not the heart (ver. 
12) : it is to see the gentile as a gentile, 
the Jew as a Jew, the slave as a slave, and 
to fail to recognize their deep common 
humanity, their oneness when seen in re- 
lation to Christ. External distinctions, 
when seen in this light, become irrelevant. 
Nay, so little weight do externals now 
carry for Paul that he makes no excep- 
tion even in the case of Christ : " we 



158 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. V 



17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, passed away; behold, all things are become 
he is a new creature : old things are new. 



know Him after the flesh no more." The 
words " though we have known Christ after 
the flesh " certainly seem at first sight to 
imply that there was a time in Paul's life 
when he did so know Him, and when per- 
haps he laid the same kind of stress upon 
his acquaintance with the external facts of 
Jesus' life as his opponents are now doing. 
But it is difficult to find any period in 
Paul's hfe which such a confession nat- 
urally fits. It can hardly be referred to 
the period before his conversion (though 
he may not impossibly have seen Jesus in 
Jerusalem), for in that case he would 
probably have mentioned it in xi. 22-33, 
where for the moment he " glories a little 
after the flesh." Nor is it easy to suppose 
that the allusion is to the period imme- 
diately after his conversion, for there is no 
trace that Paul's thoughts of Christ ever 
essentially changed, nor is it probable that 
they underwent a change in this respect. 
It has been suggested that the way out of 
the difficulty is to interpret Xpia-rov as the 
Messiah rather than as the historical Christ ; 
the meaning would then be that formerly, 
before his conversion, his thoughts of the 
Messiah were carnal, centering, for exam- 
ple, round his Jewish origin, his Davidic 
descent, etc., but that these imaginations 
were destroyed by his vision of Jesus, the 
true Messiah, and especially of the univer- 
sal bearing of His death. But considering 
that in the very next verse, the word 
" Christ " unmistakably refers to the his- 
torical Saviour, this explanation must be 
pronounced quite impossible. There seems 
no other alternative than to suppose that 
Paul is stating his case hypothetically — 
he repudiates appeals to externals, even 
in the case of Christ; the assertion be- 
comes all the more pointed, when we re- 
member that this was just the appeal which 
his opponents were fond of making. 

17. In many ways, and especially by His 
death (ver. 15), Christ had transformed 
the world for Paul. Old distinctions were 
annihilated; externals, which once bulked, 
now became irrelevant; the man in Christ 
was new, and the world upon which he 
looked was new. So that if any one is 
in Christ, he is a new creation (cf. Gal. 
vi. 15) ; the old things passed (Traprj\&ev, 
aorist), the moment he came to be in 
Christ, see! they have become NEW. It 
is one thing to be of Christ (cf. i Cbr. 
i. 12), to belong to the Christ-party; it is 
another and a very different thing to be in 



Christ. One might have heard Him preach, 
and watched His cures, and touched the 
hem of His garment, and yet be far enough 
from the kingdom of heaven, far enough 
from being a " new creation " ; to be this, 
one must be in Him. But the moment one 
is in Him (cf. Kpivavras Toi/To, ver. 14), 
then the man and his world are trans- 
formed: he is new {Kaivr]) ^ it is new 
{Kaivd) ; and the abounding surprise and 
joy, as the new man looks out upon his 
new world, are graphically depicted, in true 
Hebraic fashion, by the word t'Soi', behold! 
see I There is a fine compreHensiveness 
about the neut. plur. adj. apxala — old 
habits, customs, sins, old estimates of men 
and of Jesus, have all passed away for 
the man who is in Christ. Ttie following 
verses suggest that there is here a backward 
glance at the elaborate contrast Paul had 
drawn in ch. iii. between the Jewish and 
the Christian dispensation. 



To Paul history is divided in two by 
the death of Christ. By that event the 
distinctions upon which the world loves to 
lay stress, were obliterated, and, in the 
light of that, the external things that sep- 
arate man from man became an irrelevance. 
Nay, even the external things of Christ's 
own life, Paul seems to say, are to receive 
no emphasis : one may accentuate these, 
and be far enough from Christ after all. 
The real importance attaches not to the 
facts of Christ's life, but to the fact of 
Christ Himself, as a risen (iyepdevTi, ver. 
15) living Lord, operating in the life that 
yields to Him. Of course it would be pos- 
sible to make too absolute the distinction 
between the risen Christ and the historical 
Jesus ; if, in the complete absence of the 
historical records of His life, we knew 
nothing whatever of Jesus, how much 
should we know of the living Christ? At 
the same time, there is a knowledge of the 
facts which has no Christian value : it is 
possible to know them, without being 
touched by the power within them — such 
is knowledge " after the flesh." Paul cer- 
tainly must have been thoroughly familiar 
with the facts of Jesus' life and teaching: 
the story would, from the beginning, be 
the common property of all the churches. 
He had not probably been personally ac- 
quainted with Jesus, but he understood 
Him infinitely better than many of those 
who had been. The fact that our gospels 



Ch. V] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



159 



i8 And all things are of God, who hath 
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, 
and hath given to us the ministry of recon- 
ciliation ; 

19 To wit, that God was in Christ, rec- 
onciling the world unto himself, not im- 
puting their trespasses unto them; and 



hath committed unto us the word of recon- 
ciliation. 

20 Now then we are ambassadors for 
Christ, as though God did beseech you by 
us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye 
reconciled to God. 



satisfy to so comparatively slender a de- 
gree our curiosity about the external facts 
of the life of Jesus, shows that the feeling 
to which Paul here gives expression was 
beginning to be widely prevalent — the 
feeling that only those facts were of value 
which revealed the spirit and power and 
purpose of Jesus Himself : other knowledge 
was "' after the flesh." 



The Reconciliation (v. 18-21). 

The key-note of this section is the 
thought of reconciliation, a word which 
occurs, whether as a noun or as a verb, no 
less than four times. The passage is writ- 
ten in a state of exuberant feeling, as Paul 
contemplates the new world (ver. 17) 
which has been created and into which 
he has been brought by the reconciliation 
of God manifested in and effected through 
Christ. Christ is indeed the medium (did, 
ver. 18) but God is the ultimate agent and 
source (ca:) of the reconciliation. 

18. But all those new things, of which 
Paul has just sooken, proceed from God, 
who reconciled us to Himself through 
Christ, and, that others might learn the 
good news, gave us the ministry of recon- 
ciliation. A reconciliation was necessary, 
because without it and before it, men are 
"enemies" of God (Rom. v. 10). But, ac- 
cording to Paul, the obstacle to be over- 
come consists not only in the enmity of 
man; there is also something to be over- 
come on the side of God. When he says 
that, in Christ, God was reconciling the 
world to Himself, he does not only mean 
that the goodness of God, as manifested in 
Christ, disarmed men's hostility, and in- 
spired them with trust and confidence in 
Himself, but that in Christ, who " for us was 
made sin" (ver. 21), and who, as such, 
*' died for us all" (ver. 14), Clod's con- 
demnation of sin was put away. The rec- 
onciliation is not one which we offer or 
which we work out for ourselves ; it is one 
which we " receive " (ttiv KaraWayijv 
€\d^o/x€v, Rom. V. 11). It is interesting to 
note the blend of general and particular 
expressions throughout this paragraph : 
God was reconcihng the world, He recon- 



ciled us; He does not reckon into them 
their trespasses, He gave us the ministry of 
reconciliation. Paul has an overwhelming 
consciousness of personally sharing in the 
reconciliation accomplished by God through 
Christ, but he has an equally glad con- 
sciousness of the special honor that is his, 
in having entrusted to him the ministry of 
reconciliation, that is, in being called to the 
service of preaching {\6yov^ ver. 20) 
through which the knowledge of this recon- 
ciliation is communicated to men. 

19. Christ is the medium of reconciha • 
tion, but God is its ultimate source, just as 
the consummation of history is that God 
is to be all in all (i Cor. xv. 28). In 
verse 19, therefore, 6e6s in the emphatic 
position, points suggestively back to e/c rov 
GeoO (from God) : the combination of ws 
OTL is very unusual, and it has been sug- 
gestive that OTL (that) is really a gloss 
added to explain ws (because) — probably, 
however, the words simply mean " seeing; 
that." The reconciliation and the appoint- 
ment to the ministry thereof (ver. 18) 
were God's doing, seeing that it was God 
who, in Christ, was in the act of recon- 
ciling (pres. partic.) the world to Him- 
self. The punctuation of A. V. with a 
comma after Christ, creates a false im- 
pression. The riv (was) goes not with iv 
XpL(TT(^^ but with KaTa\\d(jao3v (reconcihng), 
and is more graphic than the simple im- 
perfect KaTTfKXacraev would have been; it 
emphasizes not the fact of the reconcilia- 
tion, but the activity of God in it, the 
reconciling process. As before, Christ was 
said to die for all (ver. 14), so here it is 
the whole world that was being reconciled 
in Him. The effect of the reconciliation 
and the practical proof of it are two-fold; 
in reconciling men to Himself, He is not 
reckoning unto them their trespasses — 
there is the perpetual forgiveness of sins 
(present partic.) ; and again God revealed 
the reconcihation in having put in our 
hands (lit. in us) the word of recon- 
ciliation (the aorist partic. de/xevos, like 
86vTos in ver. 18 suggests the definite ap- 
pointment of Paul to proclaim the recon- 
ciliation). 

20. The thought of his commission to 
proclaim (\6yov) the reconciliation suggests 



160 



II CORINTHIANS. 



rCH. VI 



21 For he hath made him to be sin for 
ns, who knew no sin ; that we might be 
made the righteousness of God in him. 



CHAPTER 6. 

I We then, as workers together with 
him, beseech you also that ye receive not 
the grace of God in vain. 



to Paul the idea that he is Christ's am- 
bassador. We are ambassadors therefore 
for Christ, — on His behalf — the same 
preposition (virep) as above (ver, 14), 
where Christ died for all, on their behalf. 
The reconciliation of the world to God is 
wrought through and in Christ, so that it 
is Christ and His cause that Paul, in his 
apostolic capacity, represents ; but as it is 
God who has entrusted him with the word 
of reconcihation, in a sense it is God who 
is speaking through him, it is as though 
God were entreating by us. There is 
here the same consciousness as that of the 
old Hebrew prophets, when they prefaced 
their messages with " Thus saith the Lord." 
We beseech you on behalf of Christ, that 
is, that the work of Christ be not frus- 
trated by your failure to appropriate it. 
The burden of Paul's message as Christ's 
ambassador is, Be reconciled to God. 
This does not mean : As you look at the 
reconciling love of God as manifested in 
Christ, cleanse your hearts of all hostility 
and distrust. The reconciliation is one ef- 
fected by God Himself (vers. 18, 19), 
one which we receive (Rom. v. 11). The 
phrase therefore means. Accept the recon- 
ciliation provided by God : those who ac- 
cept it are reconciled to God, and their 
hostility and distrust are disarmed as a 
consequence. This appeal of Paul's is more 
than a general appeal to the unconverted 
world (Koafioy^ ver. 19) ; it had no doubt 
a specific application within the Corinthian 
church (cf, vi. i, xi, 3). 

21. Some MSS. connect this verse with 
the preceding by 7«P (for; cf. A. V.) : the 
omission of 7«P, however, gives a much 
more impressive sentence, it makes the 
contents of the verse stand boldly out as 
an independent summary of Paul's evan- 
gelical message. Him who knew not sin 
He made to be sin on our behalf (v-n-ep, 
f. ver. 14) that WE (17/^^15) might become 
the righteousness of God in Him. Both 
in point of style and of thought, this sen- 
tence is extremely bold. Paul does not 
say that Jesus was made a sinner nor even 
a sin-offering, nor does he say that we be- 
come righteous ; he says something much 
profounder — Jesus was made sin, and we 
become righteousness. He was not and 
could not have been made a sinner, but He 
was completely identified with human sin ; 



and with the same completeness as He was 
identified with human sin are we identified 
with the divine righteousness — only of 
course in Him, in union with Him ; with- 
out Him we could never attain to it — it 
is ours, we become it, in Him. These strik- 
ing and original words show that Paul 
means much more than the imputation of 
hurnan sin to Christ, and the imputation of 
divine righteousness to men : the sin is not 
rnerely regarded as laid on Him, nor the 
righteousness as conferred on us, but there 
is in both cases an inner identification, as 
it were, — of Him with sin, and of us with 
righteousness. This, then, is the heart of 
the gospel, according to Paul, this explains 
the reconciliation on which throughout the 
paragraph he has so frequently and ear- 
nestly insisted. We are acquitted, justified, 
in Christ; JDut, in order to this. He had to 
be made sin. We could never have been 
identified with Him and His righteousness, 
had He not first been identified with us 
and our sin. We climb the heights, be- 
cause He descended to the depths. 



A Ministry Without Offense (vi. i-io). 

As one to whom reconciliation is every- 
thing, Paul is peculiarly anxious that the 
Corinthians should not render it ineffective, 
in their case, by their apathetic acceptance 
of it. He warns them against this dan- 
ger, shows how careful he has himself been 
to live worthily of the grace bestowed upon 
him and to preserve his ministry from re- 
proach^ or suspicion, and he thus gradually 
drifts into a noble and eloquent statement 
of his conduct amid the sufferings, per- 
secutions, and misunderstandings, incidental 
to his ministry. 

I. Paul is not only an ambassador (v. 
20) but a worker, though his work takes 
the form largely of entreaty. And work- 
ing together we also entreat YOU (iV^s, 
in emphatic position at end of sentence; 
this is a direct and special appeal to the 
Corinthians; cf. ver. 11, where they are 
directly addressed) not to receive the 
grace of God, as manifested in the recon- 
ciliation of which Paul has just spoken, 
in vain. It is offered freely, but it is re- 
ceived in vain, unless the recipient allows 
it to control, inspire, and fructify his life, 



Ch. VI] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



161 



2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a 
time accepted, and in the day of salvation 
have I succoured thee : behold, now is the 
accepted time; behold, now is the day of 
salvation.) 



3 Giving no offence in any thing, that 
the ministry be not blamed : 

4 But in all things approving ourselves 
as the ministers of God, in much patience, 
in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses. 



as Paul shows himself to have done in 
the verses that follow, where he claims to 
" give no offense in anything." The proof 
that he had not received that grace in vain 
was written large in the steadfast patience 
with which he had borne his hardships, in 
his purity, love, etc. Where these or sim- 
ilar fruits are absent, the grace of God 
has been received in vain. It is not quite 
clear whom Paul claims in avi^epyoyures to 
be workilig with — perhaps the Corinthians, 
but more probably God Himself (cf. i Cor. 
iii. 9), as here Paul does what in ver. 20 
God is said to do through him (TrapaKaXelv, 
entreat, in both cases). 

2. Parenthetically Paul inserts a quota- 
tion from Isaiah xHx. 8 (suggested per- 
haps by the verb he has just used de^acrdai, 
cf. 6e/cTw) designed to remind his readers 
of the folly of delay, and the importance 
of a sincere acceptance of the grace of 
God now. For He saith (God or Scrip- 
ture) 

At an acceptable time I hearkened unto 

thee, 
And on the day of salvation I helped 

thee. 

In Isaiah, these words are addressed to 
the servant of Jehovah. It is not necessary 
to suppose that Paul regarded them as 
prophetic ; he avails himself of the ancient 
words probably only because they happily 
express his meaning. The tension of Paul's 
feeling, as he writes, is dramatically sug- 
gested by the abrupt and repeated ISov 
(behold; cf. a few verses before, v. 17). 
Behold, NOW is the "acceptable time"; 
behold, NOW is the day of salvation. 
Salvation has been brought by Christ, and 
now is the Christian dispensation, rather 
than "to-day"; (cf. Heb. iii. 7 ff.) but 
the word has the moral effect of to-day, 
because, till the coming again of Christ as 
judge (cf. V. 10) the time is short (i Cor. 
vii. 29). 

3, 4. After the parenthesis emphasizing 
the importance of an immediate and sin- 
cere acceptance of the grace of God, Paul 
goes on to indicate the temper of his own 
ministry, the spirit in which he " co-op- 
erated " with God: giving no cause at all 
for stumbling in anything, that the (i.e. 
my) ministry be not exposed to reproach. 
Paul knows that there are critical and un- 



friendly eyes upon him, which would re- 
joice to see something in his conduct incon- 
sistent with his profession ; he also knows 
the Christian ministry is a very honorable 
office, and must be jealously guarded from 
even the possibility of reproach. He is 
scrupulously careful so to live that the 
Corinthians will find no reason, in his con- 
duct at any rate, for shaking off their 
obligation to accept his gospel. But not 
only, negatively, is he careful to avoid 
giving offense in anything (/x-qdevi) ^ but, 
on the positive side he is equally earnest 
and careful to advance the cause of Christ, 
whose ambassador he is (v. 20), by 
every means in his power, in everything 
(iravTi; he is as thorough on the positive 
as on the negative side) commending our- 
selves, as God's ministers should-— not 
commending ourselves as God's ministers 
(which would be StaKoz^ous, accusative), but 
commending ourselves, as ministers 
(diaKovoL^ nomin.) of God ought to commend 
themselves. The ministry and the minister 
must alike be above reproach : noblesse 
oblige. 

4. In proceeding to show the many 
ways in which he *' commends " himself, 
Paul develops, with simple eloquence, a 
graphic sketch of the conditions under 
which and the spirit in which he does his 
apostolic work — a sketch which reminds 
us of the cognate description in iv. 8-1 1 
(cf. I Cor. iv. 9-13), and which is more 
highly elaborated in xi. 22-33. The cir- 
cumstances of the work, the opposition, 
persecution, pain, hardships, and privations 
he had to encounter are dealt with in 
verses 4 and 5 in a series of phrases, each 
introduced by ei/; these were met in a 
spirit of patience and heroic steadfastness 
{inrofjLovr]) , which is therefore appropriately 
mentioned first. It was by ^ this that he 
commended his ministry, without this it 
would have been exposed to reproach 
(fiwfMTjeii^ ver. 3). In much steadfastness; 
this idea governs the nine phrases that 
follow, which fall naturally into groups 
of three: (a) in tribulations (lit, crush- 
ings), in necessities, in distresses — 
words suggesting the pressure and con- 
straint of circumstances, in virtue of which 
he was sometimes driven into a " narrow 
place." " The prevailing idea," as Stanley 
says, "is of pressure and confinement; 



162 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VI 



5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tu- 
mults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings ; 

6 By pureness, by knowledge, by long- 
suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, 
by love unfeigned, 



7 By the word of truth, by the power 
of God, by the armour of righteousness on 
the right hand and on the left. 



each stage being narrower than the one 
before, so that no room is left for move- 
ment or escape." 

5. The next group (b) is more specific 
and definite ; in three graphic words we see 
how keen and cruel was the opposition 
Paul had to encounter, and what it cost to 
be an apostle. In stripes, such as were 
administered to Paul and Silas at Philippi 
(Acts xvi. 23), in imprisonments, such as 
he had also to endure at Philippi after 
the stripes (both these words occur together 
in Acts xvi. 23 — ^" when they had laid 
many stripes upon them, they cast them 
into prison''), in tumults, such as that 
stirred up against Paul and Barnabas at 
Antioch in Pisidia (Acts xiii. 50). 
d/carao-r ao-t'at has been understood of Paul's 
unsettled life ; a certain color is given to 
this explanation by the use of the verb 
da-rarovfiep in I Cor. iv. il, which is coupled 
as here, with the idea of " toil " {KoiriQixev^ 
€v KOTTois) ; but the general usage of the 
noun in the New Testament (confusion, as 
in I Cor. xiv. 33 ; tumult, as in Luke xxi. 
9) is not favorable to this interpretation. 

As the second group (b) dealt with the 
sufferings Paul had to endure from deter- 
mined opponents, the third (c) deals with 
the bodily hardships which he voluntarily 
took upon himself: in labors — hard work, 
perhaps manual (Acts xviii. 3) but more 
probably the reference is to all the stren- 
uous work the apostle undertook for the 
gospel's sake : in watchings, probably not 
vigils, but suggesting, in a large way, all 
the night-toil, which was involved for Paul 
in his ministry of the gospel (Acts xx. 
31) ; in fastings. Though it has been 
argued on the basis of xi. 27 that a dis- 
tinction must be drawn between fasting 
and hunger, and that in the passage be- 
fore us voluntary fasting, as a self-imposed 
discipline, is intended, it is more probable 
that the word here (as probably also in xi. 
27) is practically equivalent to " hunger." 
Note that each of the nine nouns in all 
three groups is in the plural ; the impli- 
cation is that these hard experiences were 
not isolated, but frequent and familiar. 

6, 7. The next eight phrases, like the 
preceding ten, are introduced by ^j/; but 
they are of a different nature. They indi- 
cate not the circumstances of his ministry, 
but its spirit. Those hardships, which would 



have crushed the life out of many a man, but 
furnished Paul with an opportunity to display 
the transcendent quality of his inner life. It 
is by this that he chiefly " commends him- 
self as a minister of God" — in his general 
inward purity, though there may not im- 
possibly be a latent reference to his chas- 
tity — in this case there would be a subtle 
rebuke of the moral laxity of the Corin- 
thians; in his knowledge, peculiarly in- 
timate and profound, of the gospej and the 
gracious will of God; in the long-suffer- 
ing which he manifested amid persecution 
and insult; in his gentle kindness; in the 
holy spirit, in love unfeigned, in the 
word of truth, in the power of God. 
The Twentieth Century New Testament 
neatly renders the last four phrases thus ; 
''(We recommend ourselves also) by a 
spirit which is holy, a love which is sin- 
cere, a teaching which is true, and an 
energy which is divine." But it may be 
doubted whether the words ^v Trpevfian 
ayiu} ought not to be rendered " in the 
holy spirit." Considering the preceding 
words, which express qualities of Paul's 
own inner life, there is certainly a strong 
temptation to translate " by a holy spirit " 
— that is, his ministry was characterized 
by a holiness of spirit. But it is perhaps, 
on the whole, more natural to regard the 
holy spirit as the source of the moral 
qualities just enumerated, and in particular 
of the love unfeigned, the greatest of the 
virtues (i Cor. xiii.) which immediately 
follows. There was no hypocrisy 
(dj/i/TTOA-piVw) about Paul's love: it was not 
a mask to hide other feelings. He com- 
mends himself " in the word of truth ;" 
this has been taken to mean "by speaking 
what is true " (cf. Twent. Cent. New Test. 
just quoted) ; but there is nothing in the 
grammar to keep it from meaning simply 
in the gospel: this is the word of truth, 
it is also the power of God._ The latter 
phrase, however {^v dwdfiei Beoi") may refer 
to the power with which Paul proclaims his 
truth — a power which has its source in 
God. 

The eighteen phrases introduced by ^v 
now give place to three, prefaced by 5td, 
which furtlier illustrate the way in which 
Paul " commends " himself and his min- 
istry — not only in hardships, not only by 
the inner quality of his life, but by means 



Ch. VI] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



163 



8 By honour and dishonour, by evil re- 
port and good report : as deceivers, and yet 
true; 

9 As unknown, and yet well known; as 



dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, 
and not killed ; 

10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; 
as poor, yet making many rich ; as having 
nothing, and yet possessing all things. 



of (5ia) the weapons of righteousness 
on the right hand and on the left. Paul's 
Christian life is a struggle, a battle, and 
for this he needs armor — an idea much 
more fully elaborated in Eph. vi. 10-17. 
His weapons are weapons of righteousness, 
that is, supplied by righteousness, or per- 
haps consisting in righteousness. His good 
character (flowing, of course, from the 
holy spirit, ver. 6) is his equipment : it fur- 
nishes him with weapons offensive, like the 
sword and the spear, on the right hand, 
and defensive, like the shield, on the left. 

8. The 5ia of the next two clauses has 
hardly the same sense as in the first clause ; 
not so much " by means of," but rather 
through, that is, amid, glory and dis- 
honor, through evil and good repute, Paul 
commends himself and his ministry. 
"Whether men judge well of thee, or ill," 
says Thomas a Kempis, " thou art not on 
that account other than thyself." So 
whether men spoke well (eixprjfiia) of Paul 
or ill, he always commended himself as a 
minister of God. Their words were a 
criticism not of him but of themselves : 
they revealed not the truth about Paul, 
but their own attitude to the gospel. 
Through glory and dishonor, through good 
and evil repute, he went steadily on his 
way, commending his gospel by his patience 
and purity, by his fidelity and love un- 
feigned, by the righteousness which girded 
him on the right hand and on the left. 

9, 10. The remaining clauses, which are 
seven in number, take an antithetic form, 
and are each introduced by ws. This group 
concludes the description of the way in 
which Paul and those like-minded with 
him commended themselves. Each of the 
clauses contrasts the appearance with the 
deeper reality. As deceivers — he had been 
charged with handhng the word of God 
deceitfully (iv. 2, cf. ii. 17) — and yet 
true; as being, in the spiteful judgment 
of his opponents, unknown and obscure, 
" without proper credentials," and yet, as a 
matter of fact, well known, and acknowl- 
edged, among all true believers, by " the 
power of God " (ver. 7) which wrought 
and spoke (v. 20) so manifestly though 
him. As dying, and BEHOLD (cf. v. 17, 
vi. 2), far from dying, we live (cf. Ps. 
cxviii. 17). We have already seen how 
the hazards of the apostle's career turned 



his life hterally into a continual process of 
dying (iv. 10, 11) even bringing him some- 
times to the point of death (i. 8). He 
looked like {<^s) a man marked for death, 
and his enemies would have wished him 
dead, but, behold! he lives, by virtue of 
the invincible " life of Jesus " which was 
in him (iv. 10). As being chastised, and 
yet not killed. His opponents may have 
pointed to his afflictions and hardships as 
proof that he was under the heavy hand 
of God. Paul does not deny the divine 
discipline (cf. xii. 21) — this is as real as 
the " dying " of the previous clause — but, 
in words suggested by Psalm cxviii. 18, — 
he maintains that " he is not being delivered 
over to death." As being grieved not 
only_ in the estimation of his opponents, 
but in reality, yet rejoicing evermore; as 
paupers, yet enriching many; as having 
nothing, yet having firm (Karexovres) pos- 
session of all things. It is the literal truth 
that Paul was "poor," and ''had nothing;" 
he even refused to avail himself of the sup- 
port which he had a right to demand from 
the Corinthian church (i Cor. ix. 12-18) ; 
yet in him there was a wealth of inner 
resource (cf. vv. 6, 7), and with these 
spiritual gifts he was able to enrich others. 
And ^ though he had nothing, he yet held 
(Karexca stronger than e'xw) all things: all 
things were his, for he was Christ's (i 
Cor. iii. 22, 22). 



It is wonderful to watch the heights to 
which Paul gradually rises from the simple 
statement that, for the sake of his ministry, he 
is careful to " give no offense in anything." 
From this modest and negative utterance 
he passes to the positive statement that he 
makes a point of commending himself in 
everything, as a minister of God should do. 
Then there flashes upon him his whole 
apostolic career, with its infinite variety of 
experience : he surveys it, in rapid and 
breathless eloquence, touching on the 
fierceness of the opposition he had to en- 
counter, and the keenness of the hardships 
he had to endure, then on the spirit in 
which he had encountered, and endured, 
and achieved it all, then upon the paradoxes 
— death and life, impotence and power, 
sorrow and joy, poverty and wealth — 
which were so marvellously reconciled in 



164 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VI 



his own person. He who had been put 
in prison after receiving many stripes, 
he who had suffered hunger and sleep- 
lessness and hardship of every kind, is 
conscious that his hfe is, despite all seem- 
ing, one of power and triumph, and ends 
by describing himself as the possessor of 
all things. Truly here is one who has over- 
come the world. 

It is to be noted, too, that we owe this 
splendid statement of Paul's apostolic 
career, in its outward and inward aspects, 
to his simple desire to show how he has 
sought to commend himself as a servant 
of God, and to preserve his ministry from 



reproach. In everything he commended 
that ministry. Every new experience, 
whether of persecution or hunger or 
calumny, gave him a fresh opportunity to 
show the patience, the purity, and the un- 
feigned love which inspired all his service 
of men in the gospel. This was his re- 
sponse to the reconciliation wrought out in 
Christ (v. 19) — that supreme exhibition 
of the " grace of God," which Paul as- 
suredly had not " received in vain " (ver. 
i). And upon all, whether, like Paul, am- 
bassadors for Christ and preachers of the 
gospel or not, the same unfeigned and en- 
thusiastic response is obligatory. 



Ch. VI] 



II COEINTHIANS. 



165 



THE RESTORATION OF CONFIDENCE BETWEEN PAUL AND 
THE CORINTHIANS (vi. ii-vii. i6). 



11 O ye Corinthians, onr mouth is open 
unto you, onr heart is enlarged. 

12 Ye are not straitened in us, but ye 
are straitened in your own bowels. 



13 Now for a recompense in the same, 
unto my children,) be ye also 



(I speak as 
enlarged. 



Paul's Affectionate Appeal (vi. 11-13)- 

In the passage we have just been con- 
sidering, Paul had been led, almost insen- 
sibly, to open his heart with unusual fulness 
to the Corinthians. He had given them 
a real glimpse into the nature and the 
secret of his ministry ; and he now appeals 
to them to treat him with the same candor, 
warmth, and open-heartedness as he had 
treated them. The strong and tender feel- 
ing by which he is m.oved, as he writes, 
comes out in his use of the very unusual 
personal address "Corinthians" — the only 
occasion in the two epistles in which he ad- 
dresses them by name (cf. Gal. iii. i, Phil. 
iv. 15). 

II -13. Our mouth is open unto you, 
O Corinthians. The phrase is more than 
a synonym^ for " we have spoken to you ;" 
in this context it suggests the great warmth 
and frankness with which the last para- 
graph had been written, and by which the 
apostle's heart is still moved (note the 
perfect tense, dvicoyev), A true man's 
words are, of course, an index to his 
heart, for out of the heart the mouth 
speaketh : hence the open candid mouth 
has, as its counterpart, the large warm 
heart — our heart is enlarged, has been, 
so to speak, enlarged (perf. ireirXdTWTaL) 
as he wrote the last paragraph ; not that 
he loves them any more dearly than he 
did — that would be impossible — but his 
emotion has broken forth into exuberant 
expression, and he takes the opportunity 
to assure them of the great place they 
have in his heart. His converts are al- 
ways in his heart (vii. 3, cf. Phil. i. 7) ; 
he assures them that they have plenty of 
room there — his is a large broad heart. 
And if there is any sense of constraint in 
their relations with him, they may rest as- 
sured that it is altogether ^on their ^ side, 
and not at all on his. For it is not in us 
that you are cramped, it is in your own 
hearts, in j^our own affections, that you 
are cramped; my heart is broad, it is yours 
that is narrow {(TTevox<^p€l(T6e)^ and so 
warm, generous, and affectionate a nature 



as Paul's is hurt, when its candor is re- 
ceived with reserve or suspicion. He ex- 
pects from them the same {rrjv avrrju) 
openness which he has shown them : it is 
his due {dfTL/xLadiav), especially as they 
stand to him as children (re'/cz/ots) to a 
father, rrjv avTT]v avrt/xLadiav^ a sort of ac- 
cusative of the remoter object, combines 
the ideas of " in the same way " and " by 
way of recompense " — he expects to be 
rezvarded with the same affection as he 
has shown them. Now recompense me 
similarly — I speak as to children from 
whom I, as a father, have the right to ex- 
pect this recompense — by YOUR {koI 
vixels) enlargement (of heart) (literally, 
" in the same way, as compensation, be ye 
also enlarged "). The repetition of the verb 
enlarge is very effective : in his heart there 
is room for them, in theirs there ought also 
(/cat) to be room for him. Nor is this 
unreasonable, it is no unjust or heavy bur- 
den that he lays upon them. He is not 
their tyrant (cf. i. 24) but their father, 
and asks no more from them than that 
candor and love which, as his children, 
they should be glad to give. 



These few brief words show how human 
and friendly the apostle was, how deeply 
pained he was by misunderstanding and 
reserve on the part of those w^hom he 
loved, and how sorely he hungered for their 
affection. He gave them a great place in 
his own heart, and he could not bear to 
have but a little place in theirs. He needed 
from others the affection which he lavished 
upon others. 



The Duty of Separation From Anti- 

christian Influences 

(vi. 14-vii. i). 

The least critical reader can hardly fail 
to be surprised by this paragraph in its 
present context. Its theme is the duty of 
the Corinthians to separate themselves 
from the unclean heathen influences by 



166 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VI 



14 Be ye not unequally yoked together 
with unbelievers ; for what fellowship hath 
righteousness with unrighteousness? and 
what communion hath light with dark- 
ness? 

15 And what concord hath Christ with 
Belial? or what part hath he that believeth 
with an infidel? 



16 And what agreement hath the temple 
of God with idols? for ye are the temple 
of the living God ; as God hath said, I will 
dwell in them, and walk in them ; and I 
will be their God, and they shall be my 
people. 



which they are surrounded. But imme- 
diately before Paul has been earnestly 
pleading for a larger place in the affec- 
tions of the Corinthians, and in the para- 
graph that follows (vii. 2ff.) this general 
thought is continued, and the opening met- 
aphor is thoroughly cognate to those in 
verses 11-13 {"make room for us"). 
Even if the passage vi. 14-vii. i be Paul's, 
it is difficult to suppose that, interrupting 
as it does the continuity Of the context on 
both sides, this was its original place. 
But let us first examine the passage more 
closely. 

14. Do not become unevenly yoked 
with unbelievers. The present tense 
(ylveade) and the use of the word become 
instead of be, yields a much more graphic 
sense than that supolied by the English 
versions — " do not let yourselves become 
entangled with incongruous alliances." 
The abruptness of this sudden injunction 
is very striking, and, in the context, ex- 
ceedingly difficult to explain. It is just 
possible that there may be a backward 
glance at vi. i, in which the apostle had 
entreated his converts to see that they did 
not receive the grace of God in vain : 
this would happen if they deliberately allied 
themselves with their heathen neighbors. 
The word erepo^vyovvTes^ yoked with one 
of another and different kind, recalls 
Leviticus xix. 19 (the more so as there is 
a direct quotation from Lev. in ver. 16) 
— " Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender 
with a diverse kind," where the Septuagint 
uses the corresponding adjective erepof 1^70) ; 
the idea of the verse, though not its lan- 
guage, recalls Deuteronomy xxii. 10 " Thou 
shalt net plough with an ox and an ass 
together." The aTricrrot, unbelievers, are the 
heathen who do not believe the Christian 
gospel; for a Christian to be associated 
with them would be an incongruity of the 
same sort as when animals of different 
kinds are yoked together. No specific al- 
liance is suggested by the passage. In i 
Cor. v. 10, vii. 12, x. 27, it is admitted that 
in Corinth the breach with heathen society 
could not be absolute; and this passage 
has consequently been interpreted as an in- 
junction to avoid deliberate association with 



heathenism.— such, for example, as would 
be involved in marrying a heathen woman, 
or m taking part in heathen sacrificial 
meals, say at club-meetings. On the other 
hand, verse 17 seems to imply that the 
breach with heathen society must be ab- 
solute. 

14-16. There follows a series of five 
questions, in which the great contrasts of 
the moral life are rhetorically stated with 
much power and variety. FoV what part- 
nership has righteousness and lawless- 
ness? Sin is defined in i John iii. 4 as 
dpofila, lawlessness, disregard of the divine 
law, a disregard which often expresses it- 
self practically as " uncleanness " (Rom. vi. 
19, dKadapa-La; cf. here ver. 17, aKaOdpTov^ 
primarily ceremonial, but also moral un- 
cleanness). The Christian's life is clean, 
moral, righteous. Or what communion is 
there between the hght in which the 
Christian walks, and the darkness in which 
unbelievers live, and which, being evil, they 
love? These abstract expressions are now 
replaced by concrete ; the principles of good 
and evil, light and darkness, are embodied 
in persons, most conspicuously in the two 
great protagonists of the moral struggle — 
Christ and Satan, here called Belial, or 
rather Beliar (by a not unexampled change 
of / for r). And what harmony has 
Christ with BeHal? The original mean- 
ing of the word Belial is obscure. In the 
Greek version of the Old Testament, it is 
never rendered by a proper noun, always 
by some common noun : Psalm xviii. 4, 5, 
however, makes it probable that Belial was 
originally conceived personally (as in our 
passage) —apparently as a god of death 
or of the underworld. He is regarded here 
as the great antagonist of Christ. The 
contrast between the two great leaders, 
Christ and Belial, now passes into a con- 
trast between their human representatives, 
the believer and the unbeliever: or what 
portion has a believer with an unbe- 
liever? what do they sJiare in common? 
Nothing. And what agreement has the 
(rather than a) temple of God with idols? 
The moment the idol appears in the tem- 
ple, it ceases to be a temnle of_ God: the 
lifeless idol and the living (fwiroj) God 



Ch. VI] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



167 



17 Wherefore come out from among 
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, 
and touch not the unclean thing; and I will 
receive you. 

18 And will be a Father unto you, and 
ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith 
the Lord Almighty. 



CHAPTER 7- 

I Having therefore these promises, 
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves 
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, 
perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 



are incompatible. The holiness of the tem- 
ple must be maintained; then he clinches 
his argument by adding " zve are the tem- 
ple," it is therefore our holiness that must 
be maintained and preserved from pollu- 
tion. 

16-17. For WE (vfj-els) Christians are 
the temple of the LIVING God; the posi- 
tion of ^oji^Tos (living) shows that an em- 
phatic contrast is suggested with the lifeless 
idols. SomeMSS. (followed by A. V. ) read 
vfiels . . . eare {you are) ; cf. i Cor. iii. 
16 for the same idea, and i Cor. vi. 19, 
where impurity desecrates the temple of 
the body. The Christian church is the 
true temple of God ; in it God dwells, it 
must therefore be holy as He is holy. This 
point is now elaborated by several apposite 
quotations from different parts of the Old 
Testament, and into the ancient words a 
richer meaning is poured than that which 
they originally contained. The quotations 
are separated by introductory formulae, 
" God said," " saith the Lord Almighty," 
etc. As God said (that), "I will dwell 
in them and walk in them, and I will be 
their God and they shall be my people." 
This is a quotation from Lev. xxvi. (11) 
12 (affected perhaps slightly by Ezek, 
xxxvii. 27), according to which Jehovah 
is to dwell among His people on condition 
of obedience ; but characteristically His 
presence is locally associated with the 
tabernacle. In the use made of the quota- 
tion, this local hmitation falls away. 
Wherefore, that is, because the people must 
be holy, as their Giod is holy, " Come out 
from among them, and separate your- 
selves," saith the Lord, and touch no un- 
clean thing at all (notice present, dirTeade), 
This is a free citation of Isaiah Hi. 11, in 
which the prophet appeals to the people, 
more particularly to the priests as those 
" who bear the vessels of Jehovah," to go 
forth from Babylon, being careful to pre- 
serve their sanctity from pollution by con- 
tact with ceremonially unclean things. 
Here again the scope of the quotation is 
widened ; it is an appeal to abandon all 
heathen associations, and to preserve them- 
selves from moral uncleanness. The de- 
cisiveness of the departure (HeXdare) and 
of the rupture with their polluted environ- 



ment (a0op.) is well suggested by the 
aorist, just as the present {airreade) brings 
out the continual avoidance of contact with 
unclean things. 

17, 18. But the divine life is not a priva- 
tion and a negation. If there is a call to 
separate ourselves from one fellowship, 
there is also a promise that we shall be 
adopted into another : and I will receive 
you — to sonship, as the next clause shows. 
These words might be a loose reproduction 
of the idea in Isaiah Iii. 12, but it is more 
probable that they are a reminiscence of 
Ezekiel xx. 34, where, in the Septuagint, 
the very same words occur C'/ za'ill wel- 
come you out of the countries, wherein ye 
are scattered"). And I will be to you 
a father, and as for you (vfj^els) ye shall 
be to me sons and daughters, saith the 
Lord Almighty. This passage is modelled 
on 2 Sam. vii. 14. There it is a divine 
promise concerning the offspring of David 
("I will be his father, and he shall be my 
son ") ; here it is widened to include all 
believer^ (ver. 15) who make an absolute 
break with heathendom — men and 
zi'omen alike: the addition of and daughters 
(cf. Isaiah xliii. 6) shows how wide is the 
sweep of this new society, whose members 
are brethren and sisters, and whose father 
is God. The concluding words " saith the 
Lord Almighty " = " the Lord of Hosts " of 
the Old Testament), are used in 2 Sam. 
vii. 8 to introduce the speech from which 
the last quotation is taken. Coming at the 
end of this great series of promises, they 
make a very powerful impression. (}od is 
the Lord Almighty, the Lord of Hosts, and 
the infinite resources of which He is mas- 
ter are a sufficient guarantee for the ful- 
filment of the promises, daring as they are. 

vii. I. If God has called men to separa- 
tion, he has also pledged Himself to be 
their Father, and has called them into a 
glorious fellowship with His other sons 
and daughters. The writer's heart is 
deeply moved, as he thinks of the wonder 
of those promises ; in the strength of them, 
it should surely be no hard thing to shake 
oneself definitely free, once and for all, from 
all polluting associations, and to move 
steadily and unreluctantly on in the path 
of holiness. Seeing then, beloved (for the 



168 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VII 



tender word, cf. above ver. ii, "Corin- 
thians ") that we have promises like 
THESE (ravras emphatic) let us cleanse 
ourselves — it is worthy of note that the 
writer, as a Christian brother, includes 
himself in his exhortation — from every 
pollution of flesh and spirit, carrying 
holiness to completion in the fear of God. 
As before (see ver. 17) the decisive breach 
with the things that pollute is suggestively 
expressed by the aorist {Kadapiau^ixev) ^ and 
the long continuity of the process of sancti- 
fication is brought out by the present 
(iTTireXovvTes) . The moral life is positive 
as well as negative. It demands not only 
a cleansing from pollution, but the ceaseless 
practice of holiness ; and this effort, alike 
on its negative and its positive side, can only 
be effectively made in the atmosphere of 
the fear of God (cf. v. i). 



The genuineness of this whole passage 
has been frequently and seriously contested. 
As we have already seen, it can scarcely 
be denied that it breaks into the context 
in a rather inexplicable way. It is also 
maintained that the rhetorical accumula- 
tion of practically synonymous phrases in 
verses 14, 15 is quite unlike Paul; still 
more serious is the obiection that the in- 
junction to the Corinthians in vii. i to 
cleanse themselves from every pollution of 
flesh and spirit is not in the manner of 
Paul. " In other places," says Bousset 
(who, however, in spite of the difficulties, 
decides on the whole for the Pauline au- 
thorship of the section), "where Paul 
names flesh and spirit together, he under- 
stands by flesh the radically sinful sen- 
suousness, which therefore, in the strict 
sense, can not be cleansed from pollution ; 
and by spirit the divine spirit, which is 
not exposed to the danger of pollution." 
Professor Denney seems to hit the truth, 
when he says that though those words " un- 
doubtedly tend to become technical in his 
mind, yet words so universally and so 
vaguely used could never become simply 
technical. If any contemporary of Paul 
could have written, ' let us cleanse our- 
selves from all defilement of flesh and 
spirit,' then Paul himself could have written 
it." (Expositor's Bible, 2nd Corinthians, 
P- 239). 

Every candid scholar feels that the diffi- 
culties of the passage are serious, but they 
do not seem to be so overwhelming- as to 
preclude altogether the possibility of a 
Pauline origin. The difference in theme 
between this and the surrounding context 



could be explained by assuming that Paul 
had been interrupted when he had finished 
ver. 13, and that something had happened 
before he resumed his letter which made 
the introduction of such an appeal apposite. 
Or he may have added this passage for a 
similar reason, after re-reading his com- 
pleted letter. It has also been acutely sug- 
gested that this passage may have been a 
fragment of the letter alluded to in i Cor. 
v. 9. Probably the real truth will never 
be known. 

Whether Paul's or not, the passage sets 
before us some of the fundamental truths 
of the Bible. One is the infinite difference 
between good and evil, and the impossi- 
bility of compromise. On this point the 
teaching of the Bible is very stern and un- 
mistakable. As in the first Psalm, there 
are only two classes, the righteous and 
the^ wicked ; and the infinite difference in 
their characters will be matched by an in- 
finite difference in their destinies (Ps. i. 6). 
The man who thinks he is neutral is really 
on the wrong side. As Martineau has said, 
" At first sight, nothing can well appear 
more unnatural and defiant of all fact than 
this classification [of men into good and 
bad, friends and enemies of God]. The 
moment you attempt to apply it to actual 
persons, , and to walk through the world 
parting, as you go, the sheep from the 
goats, you perceive how little it answers 
to any apparent reality, and how shocking 
the effect would be of running it sharply 
throug-h life." Yet, as he points out, this 
is a doctrine " which has had the most 
powerful hold of minds capacious, philo- 
sophical, harmonious, devout, and has 
rarely failed to throw its awful shadow 
across the holiest souls." The difficulty is 
resolved when we turn " from the outward 
to the inward look of moral evil." It 
would be impossible to imagine any kind 
of compromise between the two great an- 
tagonists in this awful struggle — "what 
harmony has Christ with Belial ? " And 
compromise ought to be just as inconceiv- 
able between their human representatives, 
" the believer and the unbeliever." The su- 
preme duty is to " come out from among 
them " : he who does not do this, remains 
with them, and is therefore in practice, 
whatever he may be in profession, on their 
side. 

But to those who separate, the reward is 
exceeding great. They " go out " from 
Babylon, from heathenism, ;from evil asso- 
ciations, of whatever kind they be; but 
they enter into a divine and gracious fel- 
lowship, into the heavenly family, into the 



Ch. VII] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



169 



2 Receive us ; we have wronged no 
man, we have corrupted no man, we have 
defrauded no man. 

3 I speak not this to condemn you: for 



I have said before, that ye are in our 
hearts to die and live with you. 

4 Great is my boldness of speech to- 
ward you, great is my glorying of you : I 



house of God. The contaminating associa- 
tions are replaced by pure and uplifting 
relationships, in which it becomes increas- 
ingly easy to advance on the path of holi- 
ness. The fear of God is the atmosphere 
in which the whole life is bathed; and the 
separation is rewarded with an eternal 
weight of glory. 



Paul's Affectionate Appeal and Confession 
(vii. 2-4). 

2. However the previous section (vi, 14- 
vii. i) is to be explained, it is obvious that 
this paragraph continues the thought and 
even the imagery of vi. 11-13. There he 
had pled that whatever constraint may 
have existed between the Corinthians and 
him, it had been altogether on their side, 
not on his. There was room, ample room, 
in his heart for them ; and he pled with 
them to accord him a similar place in their 
heart. In the same strain he now con- 
tinues ; make room for us in j^our heart. 
He deserves this, for he has not wronged 
any one of them {ovUva) in any way — a 
very modest claim for the apostle to make, 
who had spent his strength and risked his 
life for the gospel's sake. We wronged 
nobody, we corrupted (or destroyed) no- 
body, we took advantage of noljody. 
These accusations had been made against 
Paul (cf. xii. 17-19), and the energy with 
which he repudiates the charge is power- 
fully suggested by these abrupt sentences, 
with the three fold repetition of ovdiva 
(no one) : not a man has he wronged or 
imposed upon. It is difficult to determine 
precisely what concrete meaning is to be 
attached to the' words wrong and destroy 
(or corrupt) — it is very improbable that 
there is any allusion to corruption through 
false doctrine. It is more likely that these 
more general words are to be explained by 
the more specific irXeoveKrelv (to take advan- 
tage of), which may well have reference 
to Paul's earnestness in securing money 
collections for the Judsean churches (cf. 
viii. ix.) ; the disaffected may have char- 
acterized this as extortion (cf. xii. 16, 17). 
" In many ways unknown to us," says 
Meyer, " the apostle and his fellow-workers 
might be charged with thus ruining others. 
How easily might the severity of his moral 
demands, his strictness in punishing, his 



zeal in collecting money, his habit of lodging 
with members of the churches, be vilified 
by malicious and misguided persons ! " 

3. Pleading as he is for a place in the 
heart of the Corinthians, Paul is scru- 
pulously careful to avoid anything that may 
seem like harshness or censure : so he adds. 
It is not to condemn you (lit. not with a 
viezv to condemnation) that I speak — the 
warmth of his previous words (vi. 11-13) 
ought already to have convinced them on 
that score — for I have said before — in 
vi. II, 12 — that you are in our hearts 
(cf. Phil. i. 7) to die and live together. 
The general sense is plain — Paul is indi- 
cating the profound intimacy which sub- 
sists between himself and them — but the 
precise reference is not so plain. Does 
Paul mean that he is ready to hve and 
die with them, or they with him? In 
strict grammar, the latter explanation 
would seem the more plausible, as you is 
the subject of the sentence. Paul really 
means, however, that he has them in his 
heart, and the concluding phrase may easily 
mean, that he would be willing to live or 
die with them. On the whole this is per- 
haps the more appropriate. The ambiguity 
of the _ Greek phrase might be thus repro- 
duced in English : " You are in our hearts, 
so that we are one (crw) in life and death." 
Or rather death and life, for it is signifi- 
cant that death comes first. This may be 
because Paul regards his life as a continual 
process of dying (cf. iv. 11, vi. 9) — his 
dying is a more prominent fact than his 
living. It has also been suggested, with 
less probability, that the dying precedes the 
living, because the reference is to dying 
with Christ in faith, in order to live with 
Him (cf. V. 15). 

4. The affectionate nature of Paul 
shines through his eager words. He is in 
no mood to condemn the Corinthians (ver. 
3). He is proud of them, he boasts of 
them: their conduct in the matter he is 
now about to discuss has not only com- 
forted him, it has made him very happy. 
Notice the rhythm into which his sentences 
fall (woWri fioi . . . TToWrj fiot . . . ; 
■KeTr\r)pu}(jiai . . . virepwepLaaevofjiaL) . Great 
is my confidence in (lit. in relation to, 
■n-pos) you (in such a context Trapp-rjala can 
hardly mean " liberty of speech ") ; and his 
confidence is not ashamed to express itself 
— great is my boasting on your behalf. 



170 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VII 



am filled with comfort, I am exceeding 
joyful in all our tribulation. 

5 For, when we were come into Mace- 
donia, our flesh had no rest, but we were 
troubled on every side ; without were fight- 
ings, within zvcre fears. 

6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth 



those that are cast down, comforted us by 
the coming of Titus ; 

7 And not by his coming only, but by 
the consolation wherewith he was com- 
forted in you, when he told us your earnest 
desire, your mourning, your fervent mind 
toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. 



I am filled (was then, and am still: perf.) 
with comfort, and not only with comfort, 
but with abounding joy, I experience an 
overflowing joy, amid all this affliction 
of ours. The transition from the first 
pers. plur. (ver. 2) to the sing, in 3, 4 
suggests that we have here a peculiarly in- 
timate and personal confession of feeling. 
The occasion of this comfort and happiness 
becomes clear in the next paragraph. 



Titus and His Comforting News (vii. 5- 
12). 

Paul now writes with great interest and 
particularity of the '* distress " to which he 
has just alluded, and of the manner in 
which he had been comforted. He was 
anxious about his converts, especially 
anxious about the impression made upon 
them by his letter deahng with the case of 
the incestuous man. It had certainly vexed 
them, but had it done more? had it borne 
fruit? On all these points his mind had 
been put at rest by the coming of Titus, 
who brought news very much more reas- 
suring than Paul had dared to expect. 

5. In ii. 12, 13, we were informed of the 
restless anxiety by which Paul was con- 
sumed at Troas, where he had been dis- 
appointed at not finding Titus. With this 
restlessness in his heart, he had started for 
Macedonia, and there it was only relieved 
by the coming of Titus — or, as Paul puts 
it, God comforted him by the coming of 
Titus. For, not only in Troas (ii. 12), 
but also after we had come to Macedonia 
and were again among Christian friends 
and churches, even then our flesh {i.e. 
" our poor human nature ") had no rest 
(the perfect, ecrxv'i^i', vividly expresses the 
continuity of the unrest, up to that mo- 
ment: the aorist, 'ecrx^^, is also read by 
some MSS.) In ii. 13, it is his spirit that 
is said to have had no rest, here his flesh: 
there is little practical difference between 
the two statements, except that the former 
is more inner than the latter. Flesh sug- 
gests human nature, on the side of its 
weakness and frailty. But in every direc- 
tion (we were) afflicted: the distress was 
both external and inzcard — battles with- 



out against adversaries, of whom so earnest 
and daring a man would have no lack, 
and fears within — fears for the spiritual 
condition of his converts, for their attitude 
tc vards his letter, etc. These abrupt pairs 
of words, without verb or connecting par- 
ticle, are very impressive. 

6. But his distress was relieved by the 
coming of Titus, and the coming of Titus 
was itself the gift of God. It was no 
accident, but a divine providence, a divine 
consolation. The real comforter was not 
Titus, but God. The opening passage in 
the epistle (i. 3ff.) had dwelt much upon 
the divine consolation experienced by the 
apostle in all his affliction, and the passage 
we are now considering furnishes us with 
a vivid concrete instance of it ; for He 
who comforts the downcast (this, rather 
than lozvly, humble, is the meaning of 
Tairetvovs here) — no less than GOD Him- 
self — comforted us by the coming of 
Titus: strictly in (^f), the coming was 
the element in which the consolation was 
manifested: the word (Trapovaia) is the 
same as that used for the coming (pres- 
ence) of Christ. How much the coming of 
Titus meant to Paul at this juncture, and 
how directly he regarded it as an expres- 
sion of the divine goodness to him, we have 
already seen in ii. 14 fif. where the very 
thought of it inspires him to a sudden 
burst of grateful praise. 

7. But it was not merely the sight of 
Titus' face that comforted him, welcome 
though that would be, but the reassuring 
message which Titus brought of the Co- 
rinthian situation — of their penitent grief, 
of their zealous interest in Paul and their 
fidelity to his instructions. And God com- 
forted us not by his coming only, but 
also by the comfort which he himself 
received from you (lit. "the comfort with 
which he was comforted in respect of you, 
in your case"). Titus passes on to Paul 
the comfort which he had himself expe- 
rienced when he saw the changed spir- 
itual condition of the Corinthian church. 
Titus' nczi's comforted Paul, as he 
told us the story {hres. ptc. dvayyeWcor) 
of YOUR longing to sec me, of YOUR 
mourning at the irregularities in the 
church and at your toleration of the offen- 



Ch. VII] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



171 



8 For though I made you sorry with a 
letter, I do not repent, though I did re- 
pent : for I perceive that the same epistle 
Hath made you sorry, though it were but 
for a season. 

9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made 
sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance : 



for ye were made sorry after a godly man- 
ner, that ye might receive damage by us in 
nothing. 

ID For godly sorrow worketh repent- 
ance to salvation not to be repented of: 
but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 



der (cf. I Cor. v.), and of YOUR zeal on 
my behalf, your earnest desire to obey me 
and maintain my authority : so that, by the 
story Titus had to tell me, I was made 
(even) more glad than by his mere visit, 
glad as that made me. You (vfiojv) thrice 
repeated, is in latent contrast to the de- 
sire, sorrow and zeal which Paul had 
shown on their behalf. A response is now 
forthcoming from them. 

8. Paul now reverts definitely and ex- 
plicitly to the subject of the letter (appar- 
ently I Corinthians ; and, for the specific 
incident, cf. i Cor. v), which he had rea- 
son to fear might have merely vexed the 
Corinthian church, without producing the 
spiritual results which he intended it to 
produce. For, though I grieved you in 
the letter which I wrote — the first epistle 
certainly contains some severe writing, 
which may well have humiliated and 
grieved the proud Corinthians — I do not 
regret it. A. V. takes the next clause e^ 
Kai /x€T€/u.eX6/ji7]v with this one — " I do not 
repent, though I did repent." It seems 
much better with A. R. V. to take it with 
the following clause, where it makes a 
telHng contrast to J^vv xat'pw, " now I am 
glad." Though I WAS inclined to regret 
it (this appears to be the delicate shade 
of meaning implied by the imperfect terse) 
— for, he adds parenthetically, I see, from 
the news Titus has brought me, that that 
letter grieved you, though but for a sea- 
son — NOW that I know the whole truth, 
I am glad {x^<-P<^, cf. x^-privai, ver. 7). 
The reading in ver. 8 is uncertain, but the 
general sense is not affected. Some MSS. 
(followed by Westcott and Hort) omit 
7«P after jSXeTrw — simply "I see that . . ." 
Westcott and Hort go further and suggest 
that jQXeTTw is " probably a primitive error " 
for fiXeircov (partic.) — "though I repented, 
seeing that that letter grieved you." But 
the impression created by the parenthesis 
of the ordinary text is much more lively. 

9. Of course Paul is not glad that they 
were grieved : to one who in life and death 
was one with his converts (ver. 3), the 
grief of his converts would be a grief to 
him. It is the fact that their grief bears 
spiritual fruit, and issues in (et's) a change 
of mental (fierdpoiav) and spiritual atti- 



tude, that rejoices his heart. I am glad 
not because you were grieved, but be- 
cause your grief issued in repentance. 

Their grief was not barren, but fruitful, 
because it took God into account, it was 
in accordance with the divine will, it con- 
sidered the situation in relation to God 
(Kara Qeop) ; for you were grieved in a 
godly manner, that in no respect might 
you suffer loss, in particular, in regard 
to your salvation (ver. 10) from us. Again 
we find the same modest understatement 
as in ver. 2. The divine object (iVa) of 
their godly sorrow Paul represents as that 
they might suffer no loss from him, such 
as they would have suffered had their sor- 
row been of a worldly nature : in point of 
fact, not only no loss, but the profoundest 
gain — as he proceeds to show in verses 
10, ii_ — had come to them through Paul 
and his stern and candid letter. 

10. He now contrasts the sorrow which 
they felt, blessedly issuing as it did in 
repentance and salvation, with that other 
sorrow, which he had feared was all they 
felt — that spiritually barren sorrow, which 
issues in despair and death. For godly 
grief — the sorrow which relates itself to 
God — works, effects, repentance which 
issues in (e/s) salvation that is not to be 
regretted. It is very difficult to say 
whether the last adjective (d/xeTafieXrjTov) 
should be taken with the word repentance 
or salvation: so far as the order of the 
M^ords is concerned, either would be pos- 
sible and normal to Greek usage. A. V. 
suggests a play upon the words which is 
very familiar in Greek — "repentance to 
salvation not to be repented of" — appar- 
ently a repentance which would never 
need to be repented of. But this play is 
not suggested by the Greek, which uses 
two different words — ixerdvoLav^ dfxeTafj.€Xr]TOV, 
On the other hand, " not to be repented 
of " might seem a somewhat tame epithet 
to apply to salvation ; but such understate- 
ments are common and frequently expres- 
sive — cf. "a citizen of no mean city," — 
hence a salvation which no one will ever 
regret having attained, however hard to 
reach, and however dearly bought (see 
citation in Alford). On the whole, how- 
ever, it seems more appropriate to connect 



172 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VII 



II For behold this selfsame thing, that 
ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what care- 
fulness it wrought in you, yea, what clear- 
ing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, 
yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, 
yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge ! In all 



things ye have approved yourselves to be 
clear in this matter. 

12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, 
I did it not for his cause that had done the 
wrong, nor for his cause that suffered 
wrong, but that our care for you in the 
sight of God might appear unto you. 



the adjective with the word "repentance." 
But the grief of the world works out, 
results in, death. The grief of the world 
is such as is felt by those who belong to 
the world, and not to the kingdom of God 
— grief in which the thought of God is 
not present, grief which is not Kara Qeov, 
which has no relation to God, grief which 
thinks only of its own humiliation, and 
which is not accepted as discipline (xii. 21) 
and as a means of spiritual progress. Such 
grief, having no outlook upon God and 
hope, can only consume, wither, deaden 
the soul, bring it to despair and death: 
salvation is impossible. 

II. In corroboration of what he has 
just said about the effect of godly grief, 
he appeals to their own recent experience. 
It was this very thing {avro tovto) and 
not something else, that produced the mar- 
velous change in the Corinthians which he 
proceeds to describe in detail. For see! 
■ — they cannot deny the evidence of their 
own eyes — this very thing, your godly 
grief, I mean — what earnestness it 
wrought for you, so unlike your previous 
indifference; nay, not only earnestness, but 
(dXXa) also what self-vindication, as you 
maintained your innocence before Titus, in 
the matter of the transgressor (i Cor. v.) : 
nay, not only self-vindication, but indigna- 
tion at the transgressor ; nay, not only in- 
dignation, but alarm, lest, if the situation 
should not improve, " I should come with 
a rod" (i Cor. iv. 21); nay, not only 
alarm, but longing for me to come; nay, 
not only longing for me, but zeal against 
the offender; nay, a zeal which was not 
a mere unproductive emotion, but which 
expressed itself in the infliction of just 
punishment. With characteristic gener- 
osity Paul here says nothing of their former 
indifference (i Cor. v. 2, 6) to their 
brother's disgrace, which had pained him 
so much, and evoked from him some very 
stern words : there had at least been no 
positive participation on their part, and 
Paul, in the exuberance of his joy at their 
fruitful repentance, is content to say that 
they have " approved themselves in cirry- 
thing." In everything you commended 
yourselves, and showed yourselves to be 
pure in the matter — the disgraceful mat- 



ter to which Paul does not wish to allude 
more specifically (tw Trpdy/xaTi), 

12. Paul admirably concludes (apa) this 
description of the effect of his letter upon 
the Corinthians with the assertion that the 
real object of that letter was that they 
might learn how much they cared for him. 
They did not properly know this till their 
practical response to his letter had revealed 
((papepcodij vai) it to them. Certainly one of 
the objects of that letter had been to have 
the " wrong-doer " solemnly condemned ( i 
Cor. v. 3-5), but this was for the church's 
sake (i Cor. v. 7) as well as for his own: 
the great object of the letter, however, de- 
signed by Providence if not by Paul, could 
only be read in the sequel, which revealed in 
them an earnest loyalty to him deeper than 
they had dreamed of. So then, though I 
did write to you (it was) not for the sake 
of the incestuous man that did the wrong, 
nor yet for the sake of him, the father, 
that suffered the wrong, but that your 
earnestness on our behalf might be made 
plain among you (irpos, not "to you") 
in the sight of God, in whose presence, 
when men are conscious of it, only sincere 
conduct is possible (iv. 2). Some I\ISS. 
(followed by A. V.) read tv^' (nrov8r]p rj/idv 
TT]v virep v/Awj/, " our care for you." This 
is commonplace ; the other is much more 
subtle and delicate, and quite in the skilful 
conciliatory vein that runs through the 
whole paragraph. That is why we have 
been comforted, because the object of the 
letter, as just defined, has been attained. 



The Joy of Titus at the News He Brought 
(vii. 13-16). 

The news of the changed situation in 
Corinth, which had so comforted and glad- 
dened Paul (vv. 6, 7) had been brought 
to him by Titus : in a few additional words 
he lets the Corinthians feel how much that 
news had meant to Titus, as well as to him- 
self. Titus, too, had been refreshed and 
cheered by what he had seen in Corinth, 
and his heart went out to the people, as he 
thought of the welcome they had extended 
to him. It was the more important for 
Paul to reassure the Corinthians of the 



Ch. VII] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



173 



13 Therefore we were comforted in 
your comfort : yea, and exceedingly the 
more joyed we for the joy of Titus, be- 
cause his spirit was refreshed by you all. 

14 For if I have boasted any thing to 
him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we 
spake all things to you in truth, even so 



our boasting, which I made before Titus, 
is found a truth. 

15 And his inward affection is more 
abundant toward you, whilst he remem- 
bereth the obedience of you all, how with 
fear and trembhng ye received him. 

16 I rejoice therefore that I have con- 
fidence in you in all things. 



great place they had in the heart of Titus, 
as he was returning to Corinth in connec- 
tion with the collection to be discussed in 
the next two chapters (viii. 6, 16, 23). 

13. Paul has just spoken of the com- 
fort he had experienced at the successful 
issue of his letter. But there was more 
than comfort, there was delight. Paul re- 
joiced with those who rejoiced, and the 
manifest happiness of Titus, as he came 
back with his good news, had provoked 
Paul also to happiness, indeed to a trans- 
port which he can only describe by the 
somewhat unusual device of two compara- 
tive adverbs (Trepto-o-ore'/aws /xdWop) , And 
in addition to (or possibly simply in) our 
comfort, we were made the more exceed- 
ingly glad by the gladness of Titus — 
his gladness being because refreshment 
(dvaireiravTai comes first, and is emphatic) 

has come to his spirit from all of you 
(dTTo, from: they are the source of the 
refreshing). Titus may well have started 
for Corinth with misgivings, but he found 
there a reception as unanimous (■jrdi'Tujp) 
as it was surprising. It is his spirit that 
was refreshed, just as it was Paul's spirit 
(ii. 13; fiesh, vii. 5) that was troubled. 

14. Despite the strained relations be- 
tween Paul and the Corinthians — on their 
part at least, though not on his (vi. 11- 
13) — he yet believed in them, and was 
not afraid even to boast of them to Titus — 
(cf. ix. 2, where he boasts of their lib- 
erality). Paul's confidence may have 
helped to allay Titus's misgivings, when he 
started ; and Paul relates here with evident 
pleasure that his confidence in the Corin- 
thians had been more than justified by their 
treatment of his emissary. He had spoken 
the truth, as indeed he always speaks the 
truth. For if I have made any boast to 
him about you, I was not ashamed — you 
showed the qualities which I had told Titus 
you would show. On the contrary, so far 
from having any occasion to be ashamed, 
this boasting of mine about you (some 
MSS. read ^(^(^v — this boasting about you) 
"before Titus proved true, just as all my 
words to you were true. The apostle 
cannot help glancing here at the charge of 
ambiguity and insincerity, which seems to 



have vexed him deeply (i. 16-18, ii. 17, 
iv. 2). He had spoken the truth about 
them — Titus can certify to that: he gently 
reminds them that all his words to them 
(the reference is not to his teaching) were 
just as true as his commendation of them. 

15, 16. And Titus is as happy as I am. 
His heart (airXdyxva, cf. vi. 12) goes out 
to (lit. is towards) you the more abun- 
dantly, as he recalls the obedience of you 
all (to the message sent by Paul) — how 
with fear and trembling you welcomed 
him. These words might be taken hterally, 
as the message was a stern one, involving 
a solemn condemnation of the evil-doer (i 
Cor. V. 3-5) ; but they may imply no more 
than that high and scrupulous seriousness 
with which the relations between a people 
and its minister (or, as here, his representa- 
tive) should be sustained. Here, as before 
(ver. 13) the respect and welcome offered 
by the Corinthians to Titus are unanimous 
(irdyrup)^ and, for the moment, Paul's cup 
of happiness is full : I am glad that in 
every respect I am of good confidence 
through you — not "I am confident in 
you," but " I am confident, courageous, and 
this feeling of mine reposes in (ev) you — 
you are the source of my confidence." 
Courage was one of Paul's watchwords (v. 
6, 8), and he pays his Corinthian converts 
a great compliment in regarding them as 
the inspiration of his confidence. Stanley 
gives the sense well — " I am bold through 
your encouragement." 



This whole chapter (together with vi. 11- 
13) is an interesting revelation of Paul's 
large humanitv, and of his great capacity 
for, and need of, friendship. The joy that 
shines upon the face of Titus is reflected 
upon the face of Paul. He is comforted 
by the sight of him (ver. 6) ; he is made 
happy by the story he brings of the fine 
Christian feeling displayed by his distant 
Corinthian friends. He cannot bear to 
think that there is any misunderstanding or 
estrangement ; it is a deep necessity of his 
nature that they make room for him in their 
hearts (ver. 2) ; they are in his heart for 
life and death (ver. 3). 



174 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VII 



And though their errors had been neither 
few nor trivial, he frankly recognizes their 
admirable qualities, even when the tension 
was keen ; and he speaks of them to his 
friend Titus with pride, knowing that his 
confidence in them will not be put to shame. 
He is vexed when they are vexed; but 
he is too true a friend to say Peace, when 
there is no peace. It is his duty to write 
the letter which will grieve them, but he 
writes it, in the faith that it will bring them 
to a better mind; and he can hardly find 
words to express the consolation and the 
happiness with which his soul was flooded 



at the news of their Christian reception of 
Titus and their obedience to his message. 
The words comfort and joy chase each other 
throughout the paragraph. One can feel 
the passion of the friend and the orator 
beating behind the swift and breathless 
references to their longing, their tears, their 
zeal, their earnestness, their self-vindica- 
tion, their indignation, their terror. They 
are the impassioned words of one who 
loved the men to whom he preached, of 
one who felt that he was indebted to them 
for no small measure of his happiness and 
courage. 



176 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VIII 



COLLECTION FOR THE POOR AT JERUSALEM (viii.-ix) 



CHAPTER 8. 

I Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit 
of the grace of God bestowed on the 

churches of Macedonia ; 



2 How that in a great trial of affliction, 
the abundance of their joy and their deep 
poverty abounded unto the riches of their 
liberality. 



Paul now addresses himself to the ques- 
tion of the collection for the poor at Jeru- 
salem, and his treatment of this question 
is so full as to justify us in regarding 
these chapters as constituting one of the 
great divisions of the epistle. Paul had 
good reason for regarding this collection as 
a matter of peculiar importance. He rec- 
ognized that the attitude of the Corinthians 
to it would be no unfair test of their re- 
ligion : it would show how well they had 
learned the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
who, though He was rich, yet for their 
sakes, had become poor (ver. 9). But, 
apart from this, Paul had been commis- 
sioned by the leaders of the Jerusalem 
church, when they gave him the right hand 
of fellowship and acknowledged him as 
missionary to the Gentiles, to " remember 
the poor," and this naturally he was 
"zealous to do" (Gal. ii. 10). The im- 
portance of the subject to Paul justifies 
his relatively elaborate treatment of it, and 
the Christian wisdom and tact with which 
he handled men and affairs are nowhere 
more conspicuous than in this discussion. 



The Example of the Macedonian Churches 
(viii. 1-7). 

I. The passage opens skilfully. Paul is 
about to appeal to the liberality of the 
Corinthians, to urge upon them to show 
themselves as strong in this virtue as they 
were in others (ver. 7) ; he has already 
prepared the way by expressing, at the end 
of the last chapter, his joy and confidence 
in them. Noblesse oblige; they cannot af- 
ford to disappoint the confidence which 
their own noble conduct has raised in the 
bosom of the apostle (vii. 15). Of course 
he has arguments to advance — the exam- 
ple of the impoverished Corinthians, most 
of all the example of Jesus ; but before 
he starts the discussion at all, he lets them 
feel that he is conscious of dealing with 
men, who have already gladdened his heart 
and raised his hopes high. Thus illiberal 
objections are almost disarmed by antici- 
pation, especially as he addresses them 



afifectionately as brethren. Now (5e starts 
a new subject), brethren, we should like 
to inform you of the grace of God. 
He is about to speak of money, but he 
never once mentions it : it would even 
seem as if he deliberately avoided the word. 
He lets the light of religion play about it, 
and in that light it is transfigured. If 
men give, it is of the grace of God, who 
has endowed them at once with the power 
and the desire to give. So the liberality 
of the Macedonians Paul characteristically 
describes not so much as their gift to the 
Jerusalem poor, but as God's gift to them; 
given in (or among: practically almost 
equal to to) the churches of Macedonia, 
such as Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, 
which Paul had visited (Acts xvi. xvii). 
In ascribing the Macedonian liberality to 
the grace of God, Paul makes it plain 
that he has no desire to praise the Mace- 
donians at the expense of the Corinthians ; 
it is God who work-eth in them (Phil. ii. 

2. The divine grace bestowed upon the 
Macedonians was manifest in this that, 
sorely put to the test as they were by 
affliction, so far were they from repining 
or succumbing that they rejoiced — they 
triumphantly stood the test of affliction: 
and the abundance of their joy and their 
deep (lit. reaching doi^'n to the depth) 
poverty abounded and overflowed into a 
stream of liberality, — here effectively de- 
scribed, in contrast with their poverty, as 
the RICHES of their liberaHty. Besides 
the general poverty from which Macedonia 
was suffering at that period, partly as the 
result of the Roman civil wars, the Chris- 
tians M^ould be subjected to special perse- 
cution (i Thes. ii. 14 i., cf. Acts xvi. 20); 
but in (ev) it their joy abounded; and, 
poor as they were, they expressed it in a 
zueallhy liberality. The thing was so re- 
markable that the language takes the form 
of paradox ; notice, too, the repetition of 
the strong word abound. Their airXorris 
(simplicity; then, simple liberality) was the 
combined result (els) of their joy and their 
poverty; like the widow's mite (Luke xxi. 
3 f.). Her poverty too was deep (/card 



Ch. VIII] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



177 



3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, 
and beyond their power they were willing 
of themselves ; 

4 Praying us with much entreaty that 
we would receive the gift, and take upon 
us the fellowship of ministering to the 
saints. 

5 And this they did, not as we hoped, 



but first gave their own selves to the Lord, 
and unto us by the will of God. 

6 Insomuch that we desired Titus, that 
as he had begun, so he would also finish 
in you the same grace also. 

7 Therefore, as ye abound in every 
thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowl- 
edge, and in all diligence, and in your love 
to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. 



^ddovs), but her Hberality was abundant — 
she " cast in more than they all." 

3, 4. How eager and energetic the 
Macedonian liberahty was we see from the 
following breathless sentences (verses 3- 
5). For according to their power, I bear 
witness, yes, and beyond their power, 
they gave of their own accord — not only 
without solicitation from us, but actually 
soliciting us with much entreaty for the 
privilege of sharing in the ministration 
to the saints (lit. for the grace [or favour] 
and fellowship [or participation] in minis- 
tering etc.). To the Macedonian alacrity 
the hesitation of the rich young man forms 
a pathetic contrast (Mat. xix. 16 f.). The 
same word x^pis is here used as in ver. i ; 
their gift to others is, in another aspect, 
God's gift to them. The construction is 
somewhat obscure : probably the words 
" grace " and " fellowship " are governed 
by the idea of edo:Kav (gave) which follows 
in ver. 5 ; though grammatically, their gov- 
ernment by deofievoL (beseeching) is not ab- 
solutely excluded : in either case, the essen- 
tial meaning is as above. There was more 
than spontaneity (avOalpeToi) on the part 
of the Macedonians, there was enthusiasm ; 
they counted giving as a privilege — espe- 
cially giving to the saints, distant though 
they were, for they were brethren in Christ 
— and they were so eager to secure this 
privilege that they actually begged for it 
earnestly, Paul perhaps being at first un- 
willing to take much from men so poor. 
They gave of their own accord, that is, 
without human solicitation, but the divine 
will was acting on their wills (ver. 5). 
(The words de^aadat rifxas, " that we would 
receive (the gift)" A. V. are not found 
in the great MSS. : they are simply a gloss, 
and are rightly omitted in A. R. V.). 

5, 6. And their giving was not as we 
had expected — from poor and persecuted 
people not much was to be expected — 
but they gave THEMSELVES to the 
Lord first and to us His ministers ; and the 
impulse to this exuberant and self-denying 
liberality came, as it only could come, 
through the will of God. His was the will 
that touched their wills and inspired them 



to give so lavishly out of their poverty. 
The idea is not that they gave, first them- 
selves, and then their money, but that they 
had poured themselves into their gift. 
They had made the great renunciation of 
self : consequently, with their resources they 
served not themselves, but the Lord. Stan- 
ley and Bernard, however, take the refer- 
ence to be " the devotion of personal service 
in the work of spreading the gospel, such 
as was given by Sopater of Beroea, Aris- 
tarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica 
(Acts XX. 4) and Epaphroditus of Philippi 
(Phil. ii. 25)";— they gave "not merely 
their money, but ' themselves ' to his service 
as constant companions." And the result 
or effect («s to ...) of their unselfish 
generosity was that we urged upon Titus 
that, as he had made a beginning before 
with the collection, during his former stay 
at Corinth, so he should also go on to 
complete among you («'? vij^cls, lit. "in 
regard of you " : his activity was to be di- 
rected tozcards them) this grace of lib- 
erality also (xapts, cf. note on vers, i and 
3). The grace of Hberality is not here 
contrasted, as in ver. 7, with other graces, 
e.g. zeal and repentance (vii. 11, 13 f.); 
the Kai refers not to this grace, as opposed 
to others, but to the whole clause : besides 
the other Avork which Titus had to do, he 
was also to attend to this. 

7. But enough of this: Paul breaks off 
the appeal to the Macedonian example, and 
throws them, as it were upon their honor. 
Men whose other graces were so conspic- 
uous, will surely not fail in the grace of 
liberality. As ye abound in EVERY- 
THING — faith, utterance, knowledge, 
earnestness of every kind, your love to 
me (lit. rising from you, and reposing in 
me, as its object) — (see) that ye abound 
in this grace also. In the last clause 
there is an elhpse of some such verb as 
" see," " I entreat you " ; probably the in- 
fluence of_ irapaKoXeaai (exhort) in ver. 6 
is unconsciously felt. Instead of ttj i^ vi.(.u)v 
kv riixlv dydirr], Westcott and Hort read r. 
e| rj/xcav ev vfxlv ay, (my love to you) ; but 
to regard Paul's love for the Corinthians 
as a grace of theirs, is distinctly artificial. 



178 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VIII 



8 I speak not by commandment, but by 
occasion of the forwardness of others, and 
to prove the sincerity of your love. 

9 For ye know the grace of our Lord 



Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet 
for your sakes he became poor, that ye 
through his poverty might be rich. 



The context demands the mention of a gift 
which they themselves exercise, compara- 
ble to faith, utterance, etc. : hence " your 
love to me." These words of Paul are not 
an idle compliment. In point of fact, the 
Corinthians did .possess these graces: the 
first epistle opens with a grateful acknowl- 
edgment to God that this is so (i Cor. i. 4, 
5: cf. xii.). And Paul, with his keen 
knowledge of human nature, commends 
them for this in order to stimulate them 
to something harder still. But one can 
hardly fail to detect, beneath the praise, a 
gentle note of irony. They abounded in 
everything, in spiritual gifts of no mean 
order ; but what of their attitude to ma- 
terial things? were they ready to make a 
Christian use of money f They had many 
graces ; had they grace enough to part with 
their money in the interest of their needy 
brethren in a distant land? Paul's is an 
eminently practical gospel, which does not 
lose itself in speculation, but which bravely 
faces the tests and demands of ordinary 
life. 



Another Plea for Liberality (viii. 8-15). 

8. The Macedonian example was won- 
derful. Deep as was their poverty, they 
yet begged for the privilege of giving, and 
their generosity surpassed all reasonable 
hopes. But there was another example 
higher still, that of " our Lord Jesus 
Christ;" and incidentally Paul illumines the 
whole question of Christian giving, by let- 
ting the light of that radiant Example fall 
upon it. This is the plea he prefers ; for he 
fears even the appearance of being dicta- 
torial in a matter of this kind. It is not 
by way of command that I speak; if he 
has mentioned the example of the Mace- 
donians, it is simply because this will enable 
him to test the sincerity of their love to 
their distant brethren in Christ. But by 
holding forth before you the earnestness of 
OTHERS, I am (supply Xe'Tw) testing the 
sincerity of YOUR love also. The exam- 
ple of the Macedonian earnestness is the 
means by zvhich {^<-o- with genitive) the 
sincerity of the Corinthians is tested. 
erepcjv (others) and iffierepas (your) are 
emphatic. 

9. Paul has no desire to command the 
Corinthians to go and do likewise. Nor 



has he any need ; for they have the peren- 
nial inspiration of the supreme Example. 
Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus 
(Christ) — the grace manifested bv Him, 
and which showed itself in this that for 
YOUR sakes He became poor, though 
He was rich, in order that YOU, through 
HIS poverty, might become rich. It is 
very significant of the grandeur of the 
thoughts by which Paul was habitually 
haunted, that he introduces this great ut- 
terance quite incidentally as a reason for 
his not urging the Corinthians to liberality 
in a tone of command. The great example 
of Jesus ought to be a sufficient stimulus 
to those who believe in Him. In the 
w^ords being rich Paul is clearly thinking 
of the pre-existent Christ, and the riches 
are the glory which He had with the 
Father "before the world was" (John xvii. 
5). The classic elaboration of the thought 
here simply presented is the great passage 
in Phil. ii. 6-8. The word i-rrTuxeixre, while 
grammatically it might refer to the poverty 
of Christ's earthly life, much more natu- 
rally refers to His entrance upon that life, 
to His " taking the form of a servant." 
The incarnation is the supreme manifesta- 
tion of " grace," and the incomparable in- 
centive to liberality. How far removed 
this doctrine is from being an abstraction 
to Paul is shown by the altogether nat- 
ural and even incidental way in which it 
is introduced as the great motive to lib- 
erahty ; and almost more by the very per- 
sonal turn the statement of that doctrine 
takes : " Christ, being rich, became poor, 
not merely for the w^hole world, but for 
you Corinthians." The impact of the doc- 
trine is definite and particular, it is a 
Corinthian affair; Christ, being rich, be- 
came poor, " that you, through His pov- 
erty, might become rich " with the heav- 
enly riches, e.g. reconciliation to God 
which comes through Christ (v. 18) liberty 
(iii. 18), life (iv. 11). You (vfj-els) and 
His (eKeivov) are very emphatic. Christ 
and the incarnation furnish the most over- 
whelming exhibition of " grace," to a 
Christian the greatest conceivable inspira- 
tion to liberality; but this last clause sug- 
gests, though it does not directly state. 
that Christ is more than an example : the 
wealth that He brings us. is only ours in 
Him. He is the source of the liberal life 
as well as its pattern. 



Ch. VIII] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



179 



10 And herein I give my advice : for 
this is expedient for you, who have begun 
before, not only to do, but also to be for- 
ward a year ago. 

11 Now therefore perform the doing of 
it; that as there was a readiness to will, so 
there may he a performance also out of that 
which ye have. 

12 For if there be first a willing mind, 
it is accepted according to that a man hath, 
and not according to that he hath not. 



13 For I mean not that other men be 
eased, and ye burdened : 

14 But by an equality, that now at this 
time your abundance may be a supply for 
their want, that their abundance also may 
be a supply for your want ; but there may 
be equality: 

15 As it is written. He that had gath- 
ered much had nothing over ; and he that 
had gathered little had no lack. 



10, II. However, it is only an opinion, 
not a command (ver. 8) that I give in 
this matter. His sentence points back to 
ver. 8, showing conclusively that the great 
utterance in ver. 9 is quite parenthetical. 
For this is for your good, seeing that 
not only in the matter of doing but also 
of willing you made a beginning last 
year before the Macedonians (cf. i Cor. 
xvi. i). ''This is expedient for you:" 
what? Perhaps that Paul offers them an 
opinion, rather than a command — for peo- 
ple who had shown themselves so eager in 
willing and doing, the tone of command 
would be unseemly; but more probably this 
refers to the grace of liberality in which 
they are to abound (ver. 7). Let them 
continue as they had begun. Much doubt 
hangs over the interpretation of the phrase 
" not only to do, but also to will." As the 
will must precede the deed, the reverse 
order would seem the more natural, and 
is indeed read by the Syriac version (not 
only to will, but to do). With the present 
order, OeXeiv has been interpreted as " to 
be willing to do," and the sentence would 
run " not only to do, but to do it willingly." 
The word, however, cannot bear that mean- 
ing. Heinrici explains it as a climax point- 
inp" backwards ; " you were before the 
Macedonians not only in carrying out the 
collection, but also in desiring it" (note 
the difference between the present OeXeLv, 
and the aorist Troiijaai), That the subject 
of the collection was already in their minds 
is shown by. their question which Paul 
answers in i Cor. xvi. i ff. Bousset sug- 
gests (without, however, any textual war- 
rant), that the original meaning was: 
" not indeed with the doing, but at any 
rate with the willing." It is difficult to 
see how so simple and natural a reading 
could ever have been transformed into our 
present text; but_ there can be no doubt 
that, besides making good sense in itself, 
it joins admirably to the following sen- 
tence. But now, seeing that you were first 
in willing, go on to complete the doing 
also — crown (eTrt) the will with the deed 



— that, as the readiness to will (was 
there), there may also be the comple- 
tion according to (your) means (not, as 
A. V. "out of that which ye have"). En- 
thusiasm is worth little, especially to 
starving men, unless it accomplishes some- 
thing. 

12. But Paul is ever reasonable and 
practical. The gift is to be in proportion 
to the means of the giver, li men give 
"beyond their power" (ver. 3) the heart of 
the apostle is exceeding glad, but he does 
not expect that (ovk . . . rjXiriaafiev^ ver. 
5); he is content if they give "according 
to their power" (ver. 3). Men are not 
expected to give what they do not have. 
The spiritual value of the gift depends not 
on its amount, but on its inner quality: the 
great question is whether it be the gift of 
those who have " first given themselves " 
(ver. 5). It may be much or little, but 
it ought to be given with readiness, and 
it ought to be in proportion to the means : 
for if the readiness is there, it is accepta- 
ble according to what a man may, in 
any given circumstances, have (ea*' '^XV, 
subj.) not according to what, as a matter 
of fact (e'xei, indie.) he does not have. 

13-15. The idea of the collection, Paul 
now points out, is not to ease the one party 
at the expense of the other, but to restore 
that relative equality (ottojs yev-qrai laorrjs) 
which is the ideal condition of things, and 
which is suggested by the story of the 
manna. For it (my object: or, the pur- 
pose of the collection) is not that others 
may have relief (and) you trouble. 
But, on the principle of equality, YOUR 
abundance at the present juncture is for 
the supply of THEIR deficiency, that 
THEIR abundance may perhaps on some 
other occasion be for. the supply of YOUR 
deficiency, in order that there may re- 
sult equality. The meaning of the sen- 
tence is plain, but its punctuation and di- 
vision are not so certain. The first clause 
may be taken, as above, independently, as- 
suming an ellipse, and a colon put at 
" equahty," as in A. R. V. ; but it is also 



180 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VIII 



possible to regard the two verses as one 
continuous sentence, thus : " For not in 
order that there may be relief to others, 
and distress to you, but on the principle 
of equality, your abundance in the present 
juncture is to supply their defect, etc." 
The last clause probably does not mean 
" that their spiritual wealth may supply 
your deficiency," but simply that, if ever 
the tables should be turned, they rich, and 
you poor, then their superfluity would re- 
lieve your distress, as yours may now re- 
lieve theirs. The prominent word in the 
verses is equality: the liberality which Paul 
urges is to produce that equality and bal- 
ance of resources which is only just and 
fair, especially among brethren; and this 
point he illustrates — it is hardly intended 
as a proof — by a reference to the manna 
story in Exodus xvi. i8 according to which 
this equality was providentially secured. 
In the words of scripture, " He that 
(gathered) much had nothing over, and 
he that (gathered) little had no lack." 
With 0, we have to supply <yv\\e^as (gath- 
ered) from the cvveXe^av of Exodus xvi. 17. 

The question considered in these para- 
graphs — the place of giving — is one of the 
most delicate that confronts the members or 
the minister of a Christian church, and Paul 
shows his customary tact in refusing to be 
dictatorial. He will only hazard an opin- 
ion ; but his opinion is presented so per- 
suasively and supported by examnles of 
such overwhelming cogency that it has the 
practical effect of a command for the un- 
sophisticated conscience. 

He wishes to inspire his Corinthian 
"brethren" with a Christian view of 
money, and in this connection his frequent 
use of the word grace (x'^P'^^) is ex- 
tremely significant. The liberality which 
the Macedonians showed (ver. 4) and 
which he entreats and expects the Corin- 
thians to show (ver. 7) is described by the 
very same word as describes the spirit 
which prompted Christ to exchange His 
state of heavenly glory for the humility 
and poverty of an earthly career (ver. 9). 
If any man gives to the needy, it is only 
because God has first given to him the re- 
sources and the will to use them. So 
liberality itself is a gift of God, a grace, a 
manifestation of the "grace of God" (ver. 
i). And not by any means the least im- 
portant ; many who shine in other walks 
of virtue, are ignominious failures here. 
It is possible to be a man of eloquence and 
even faith, and yet to be mean (ver. 7). 
P)Ut the practical Paul is not content with 
the graces of faith and utterance and 
knowledge and earnestness ; his converts 



must abound in this other grace of liber- 
ality also. The grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ was supremely manifested when He 
divested Himself of His heavenly Trepiaaevfia 
(superfluity; ver. 14), abandoning it to en- 
rich a needy world — or, as Paul more 
trenchantly and personally puts it, " to en- 
rich you''— and the followers of the Lord 
are most like Him when they too give of 
their abundance to supply the needs of 
others. And it is not enough that they 
intend or will to do it, they must do it (ver. 
11); their zeal must be concentrated in 
action, it must get itself translated into ac- 
complished fact. 

Liberality, however, must be rational. It 
must be enthusiastic — " if the zeal be there, 
it is acceptable" — but yet it must soberly 
take all the facts into account. It must 
not give what it does not have : it must 
not wilfully throw away its resources. The 
gift is to be given with readiness, but also 
with a sense of proportion. It has to bear 
some relation to a man's means. Much or 
little, it will be acceptable, if it be '* accord- 
ing to what he has." It is not the amount 
that matters, but its spiritual quality, the 
amount of " readiness " it represents. If 
this is as it should be, then a just and 
even generous proportion will be guaran- 
teed. Niggardliness will be impossible to 
the redeemed, to those who " know the 
grace of Christ" (ver. 9). This is only 
another way of saying that the gift will 
be at least proportionate, and more prob- 
ably generous, if the giver has first of all 
given himself. Men who have " first given 
themselves to the Lord " will not be mean 
in their gifts to His needy brethren. As 
brethren, they should share alike ; approx- 
imate equality should prevail (ver. 14) ; and 
if one has abundance and another lack, the 
Christian instinct is to right the balance at 
once : for ye know the grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

Great is the force of example, and the 
example of the poor and persecuted Mace- 
donians was a source of peculiar joy to 
Paul. Their liberality surprised him; he 
expected them no doubt, as Christian men, 
to give according to their means (ver. 11). 
but they did more ; they gave even beyond 
their power, willingly, enthusiastically, with- 
out solicitation, even vehemently impor- 
tuning Paul, who may well have hesitated 
to accept gifts so lavish from men so poor. 
These were the gifts of men who had 
given themselves, and Paul holds up their 
example as a spur to the Corinthians, 
though he will use no word of command. 
Why should he to men who are already 
acquainted with the grace of Christ? 



Ch. VIII] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



181 



i6 But thanks he to God, which put the 
same earnest care into the heart of Titus 
for you. 



17 For indeed he accepted the exhorta- 
tion ; but being more forward, of his own 
accord he went unto you. 



' For here after all is the supreme Exam- 
ple. No human liberality, however affec- 
tionate and generous, could be compared 
to the grace of Him who " for your sakes " 
deliberately descended from the heavenly 
heights to the valley of humiliation in- 
volved in an earthly career. To bring the 
incarnation into connection with so mun- 
dane a matter as a collection of money for 
some poor strangers is very daring, but al- 
together in the manner of Paul. He rein- 
forces the humblest duties by the most 
powerful inspirations: we see the way best 
when the light is brightest. A heart con- 
trolled by the thought of the incarnation 
and all that it involved, could not be other 
than generous to the needy, especially to 
the needy "saints" (ver. 4). But the 
Christ whose grace is so resplendent and 
persuasive in the incarnation, wins His 
true place and wields His true power 
among those who love Him, not so much 
because He is their example, but rather 
because He is their Lord. They long for 
a share in ministering to others, according 
to their means, because they have first given 
themselves to the Lord (ver. 5). 

On this passage, Stanley has some sug- 
gestive remarks. "This text," he says, al- 
luding to viii. 9, " from bringing forward 
prominently the fact of our Lord's poverty 
as an example, gave rise to the mendicant 
orders, as founded by St. Francis of Assisi, 
who in this respect believed himself to be 
following the model of our Saviour's life. 
Such a result is doubly curious.^ It shows 
how a parenthesis, incidentally introduced, 
in an appeal, for a temporary purpose, to 
the generosity of the Corinthian church, 
has given birth to an immense institution, 
at one time spread over the whole of Eu- 
rope. It shows how much of the extrava- 
gance of that institution might have been 
checked by acting less on the letter, and 
more on the spirit, of the passage in which 
the- text occurs: a passage of which the 
general tendency is the very opposite to 
that which could reduce the feelings of 
generosity to a definite and uniform sys- 
tem." 



Arrangements for the Supervision of the 
Collection (viii. 16-24). 

The management of a _collection,_ as^ of 
every other work involving organization, 



demands not only spiritual enthusiasm, 
but business capacity. Practical details 
have to be attended to, suitable officers have 
to be appointed, every suggestion of sus- 
picious methods and motives has to be 
sedulously avoided, so that while the work 
advances the glory of the Lord (ver. 19) 
and must be able to bear the scrutiny of 
His eye (ver. 21), it must be no less honest 
and honorable in the sight of men. In ar- 
ranging for the collection destined for the 
poor Christians, Paul shows his customary 
sagacity. There are always mean men 
ready to assume the worst of any one 
who has money to administer ; so, to avoid 
even the appearance of suspicion, Paul as- 
sociates with his colleague Titus other two 
Christian brethren, one whose fame had 
already run through all the churches, and 
another whose earnestness Paul had re- 
peatedly proved ; and the Corinthians are 
charged to show their liberality in the 
face of the churches as represented by 
these their delegates. 

16, 17. Now thanks be to God — (the 
word x«P's has been in Paul's mind all 
through the chapter ; here it is used in a 
new sense) — who continually (SiSoj/n 
pres. ptc.) puts into the heart of Titus 
the same earnestness on your behalf as 
I myself have. Earnestness (a-irovdr]) is 
one of the Christian graces : the Corin- 
thians have it (ver. 7), and Titus has it. 
Paul sees in Titus' zeal a gift of God, 
which he himself is impelled to acknowl- 
edge with gratitude. The thought is char- 
acteristically Christian that Titus's earnest- 
ness in furthering the collection for the 
Jerusalem poor was really earnestness in 
behalf of the Corinthians (vTrep) : their 
spiritual welfare would be advanced by 
their liberality. There are two proofs 
(fiev . . . de) of the earnestness of Titus ; 
firstly, because he accepted the exhorta- 
tion to which Paul alludes in ver. 6 
(^iTap6.K\r,(nv^ wapaKaKeaai) ^ thereby at once 
showing his humility, and receiving his 
authentication from Paul ; and secondly, in 
his great earnestness (lit. being by nature 
more earnest than to need an exhortation), 
he is actually going forth to you of his 
own accord (for aveaiperos, cf. ver. 4). 
The past tenses in this passage are epis- 
tolary; by the time the Corinthians read 
the letter, the fact will be that Titus n'ent 
forth, and Paul sent with him the brother, 
etc. 



182 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. VIII 



i8 And we have sent with him the 
brother, whose praise is in the gospel 
throughout all the churches ; 

19 And not that only, but who was also 
chosen of the churches to travel with us 
with this grace, which is administered by 
us to the glory of the same Lord, and 
declaration of your ready mind : 



20 Avoidmg this, that no man should 
blame us in this abundance which is ad- 
ministered by us : 

21 Providing for honest things, not only 
in the sight of the Lord, but also in the 
sight of men. 

22 And we have sent with them our 
brother, whom we have oftentimes proved 



18, 19. And we are sending along 
with him — why he does not allow him to 
go alone we see in ver. 20 — the unnamed 
brother whose praise in the matter of 
the gospel is through all the churches, 
a phrase which shows the unity of spirit 
that, even at this early date, already bound 
the Christian churches together. Many 
guesses have been hazarded as to the 
identity of this brother, but certainty is 
quite unattainable. As " brethren " means 
Christian brethren in ver. 23, " brother " is 
likely to mean the same here, so that he is 
probably not the brother of Titus. On the 
strength of the reference to " the gospel," 
he has been identified with Luke ; but 
*' gospel " could hardly have been used so 
early of the written gospel, besides Luke's 
gospel was not yet written. Who the brother 
was we do not know, , though he was al- 
ready famous '" in the matter of the gos- 
pel" (probably in preaching it) throughout 
the churches — a fact which incidentally 
shows us how great and lamentable are 
the gaps in our knowledge of the early 
Church. He is referred to again in xii. 
18. And not only is he praised throughout 
the churches, but also (he has been) 
definitely elected by the Macedonian (ver. 
i) churches (to be) our fellow-traveller 
in connection with this gift (lit. grace, i.e. 
the collection) which is being adminis- 
tered by us, to the glory of the Lord 
and to show our readiness. Elsewhere 
(cf. ver. II, and esp. ix. 2) Paul uses the 
last word -n-poOvfiia of the readiness of the 
Corinthians, and it is tempting here to 
read, with A. V. vfxwv {your ready mind) ; 
but the chief uncials read vi^^v {our) ; as 
A. R. v.). It is difficult to say with what 
word the phrase " to the glory of the Lord 
and to show our readiness " should be 
connected. Either the collection is admin- 
istered " to the glory of the Lord, etc " : or 
the other brother was associated with 
Titus " to tlie glory of the Lord, etc." In 
the one case, the meaning will be that the 
Lord is glorified in the brotherly spirit that 
animates the churches ; in the other, that 
the association of the two will allay sus- 
picion of misappropriation of the funds, 
and thus contribute to the glory of the 



Lord. The former seems the more natural. 
The collection also gives Paul occasion to 
show his zealous interest in the poor 
Christians of Judaea, in accordance with the 
charge laid upon him (Gal. ii. 10). How 
the brother referred to was elected we do 
not know; the word {x^i-porovelv) suggests 
primarily a show of hands. The choice of 
a man who was not only favorably known 
throughout the whole of the then Christian 
world, but who had been definitely elected 
by the churches, would be a guarantee to 
the meanly sceptical that Paul was prepared 
to welcome their challenge or scrutiny of 
his arrangement, in the matter of the col- 
lection. 

20, 21. It is a pity that such precautions 
should be necessary; but Paul knew human 
nature, and he did not think it beneath his 
dignity to take the precautions necessary 
to safeguard his honor, \\n\h which was 
involved the " glory of the Lord." So he 
associated with Titus this unnamed brother, 
avoiding this, that any one should blame 
us — as a matter of fact, the sequel shows 
us that his precautions were not unneces- 
sary (xii. 17 f.) — in the matter of this 
liberal collection which is being admin- 
istered by us. Throughout the section, the 
word " money '' is significantly avoided. 
The collection, which in ver. 19 is described 
as a gift or grace, is now a aSpoTTjs. The 
adjective abpos means solid, and the noun 
implies, in this context, a substantial con- 
tribution — an indirect compliment and 
stimulus in one. Paul thinks it incumbent 
upon himself to take precautionary meas- 
ures, because the life which he lives before 
the Lord is equally lived before men. and 
he must not expose himself and the cause 
he represents to unnecessary misunder- 
standings. For we are careful for good 
(appearances) not only in the Lord's 
sight but also in men's. This is a rem- 
iniscence of the Septuagint of Prov. iii. 
4 which does not quite represent the 
Hebrew (" Thou shalt find favor and good 
understanding in the sight of God and 
men "). 

22. And with them — with Titus and 
the brother elected — we are sending (epis- 
tolary aorist, avv€irefi\f/afj.ei') our brother — 



Ch. VIII] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



183 



diligent in many things, but now much 
more dihgent, upon the great confidence 
which / have in vou. 

23 Whether any do inquire of Titus, he 
is- my partner and fellow helper concern- 
ing you : or our brethren be inquired of, 
they are the messengers of the churches, 
and the glory of Christ. 

24 Wherefore shew ye to them, and be- 
fore the churches, the proof of your love, 
and of our boasting on your behalf. 



CHAPTER 9. 

1 For as touching the ministering to the 
saints, it is superfluous for me to write to 
you : 

2 For I know the forwardness of your 
mind, for which I boast of you to them of 
Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year 
ago ; and your zeal hath provoked very 
many. 



not Paul's brother, but some Christian 
brother — whom many times in many 
matters we have proved to be earnest 
— earnestness is an indispensable virtue 
(ver. 16) — but now far more earnest 
through the great confidence he has been 
led to place in you by the encouraging re- 
port of you that Titus has brought back, 
A. V.'s " the confidence which / have in 
you " is hardly correct. This brother was 
well known to Paul, and recommended by 
him with as much confidence as the other 
more famous " brother " of ver. 19. Paul 
is ready to stand by every member of the 
delegation. If (questions are asked) 
about Titus, he is my colleague and 
fellow- worker in relation to you: if our 
brethren — the two whom he has just men- 
tioned — (are in question), they are emis- 
saries of churches, the glory of Christ. 
Titus was certificated by Paul, the other 
two by the churches: only one is expressly 
mentioned as having been elected, but the 
churches no doubt approved, whether form- 
ally or informally, Paul's choice of the 
second brother. The word diroaToXos is 
here used in its more general and literal 
sense, of one sent forth. Coming from 
such a man as Paul, with his keen insight 
into character and his magnificent concep- 
tion of the Christian ideal, the last two 
words are an extraordinary eulogy of the 
two delegates ; for they surely mean more 
than that these were " men whose work 
tends to Christ's glorv" (Alford). In 
their face the glory of Christ Himself was 
in some measure visible, as in His face the 
glory of God (cf. iv. 6). 

24. Practical exhortation by way of con- 
clusion {oiiv). Now then in the face of 
the churches as represented by these their 
delegates, offer them a practical proof, by 
a generous contribution, of your love 
(whether to me, cf. ver. 7, or to the poor 
Christians in Judea), and thus a verifica- 
tion of our boasting on your behalf, 
boasting to which Paul several times alludes 
(vii. 4, 14, ix. 2). The Corinthians must, 
by their liberal conduct, show that he had 



spoken the truth about them. The churches 
were watching what the Corinthians would 
do, and the Corinthians must rise to 
the occasion. Instead of the smoother 
evdei^aade (imper. shozv) some good MSS. 
read evdeLKvvfievoi (showing) in which case 
the sentence would be unfinished. 



Paul's Earnest Hope That the Collection 

Will be Ready When He Comes 

(ix. I-S). 

The subject of the collection might seem 
to have been already presented with rea- 
sonable adequacy. Paul has directed the 
thoughts of the Corinthians to the stimulus 
of the Macedonian example, and to the un- 
faihng inspiration that hes in the incarna- 
tion. He has pointed out that the gift 
ought to be in proportion to their means, 
and urged upon them the duty of com- 
pleting what they have begun ; and finally 
he has taken steps to secure the fund from 
any suspicion of misappropriation. Yet, in 
spite of all his arrangements and exhorta- 
tions, he has still some misgiving; not in- 
deed that the money will not be forthcom- 
ing — he can trust them for that, for he 
knows their "readiness" of mind — but 
that it will not be forthcoming in time. 
He has boasted of their hberality to the 
Macedonians ; and if the collection is not 
ready when he arrives, he will be affronted. 
That, then, is one reason for sending the 
delegates in advance — to have it ready 
against his arrival. 

ix. I, 2. For with regard to the minis- 
tration (that is the collection by which they 
are to be served) to the Jerusalem poor, 
whom here, as in viii. 4, he calls the saints, 
it is superfluous for me to be writing 
(ypd(f)eip, pres., not aor.) to you, for the 
reason he is now about to give. For I 
know your readiness (cf. viii. 11) of 
which I am in the habit of boasting on 
your behalf to the Macedonians — Paul 
is writing from Macedonia — and the 
words of his boast were that Achaia has 



184 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. IX 



3 Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our 
boasting of you should be in vain in this 
behalf ; that, as I said, ye may be ready : 

4 Lest haply if they of Macedonia come 
with me, and find you unprepared, we (that 
we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this 
same confident boasting. 

5 Therefore I thought it necessary to 
exhort the brethren, that they would go 
before unto you, and make up beforehand 
your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, 



that the same might be ready, as a matter 
of bounty, and not as of covetousness. 

6 But this I say, He which soweth 
sparingly shall reap also sparingly ; and he 
which soweth bountifully shall "reap also 
bountifully. 

7 Every man according as he purposeth 
in his heart, so let him give; not grudg- 
ingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a 
cheerful giver. 



been prepared to make its contribution 
since last year (same phrase in viii. lo). 
On Achaia, cf. i. i : he says Achaia rather 
than you, partly because he is quoting the 
words of his boast, partly because the Co- 
rinthian Christians were not the only ones 
involved (cf. i. i). And your zeal stirred 
up the greater number of them. The 
Macedonian liberality, regarded in viii. i 
as a gift of God, is here ascribed to the 
spur of the Corinthian example. There is 
no incompatibility between these reasons, 
the former is the more profound, 

3, 4. Paul is so sure of the Corinthians 
and their enthusiasm that he has not hes- 
itated to boast about them to the Mace- 
donians. He does not need to remind them 
further, by letter, of their duty. But he is 
anxious to make sure that their enthusiasm 
will be crowned by action (viii. 10 f.) and 
that the money will be there when he ar- 
rives. To this end I am sending {eirefi^a 
epistolary aorist ; cf. viii. 18) the brethren 
— Titus and his two colleagues (viii. 16- 
24) that our boast about you be not, 
by your lethargy, made void in THIS re- 
spect. He had boasted frequently of the 
Corinthians (vii. 4, 14), and they had many 
qualities of which he might well be proud 
(viii. 7), including the ready zuill to con- 
tribute (viii. 11); but libera.! deeds (vni. 
11) were needed as well as liberal inten- 
tions, and Paul was anxious that his boast 
should not prove to be an idle one in this 
very important respect. So he sends the 
delegates in advance, in order that, as I 
repeatedly (eXeyop impf.) said to the Mace- 
donians, you may be prepared with the 
contribution; lest by any means, if any 
Macedonians should come with me and 
find you unprepared, we (not to say 
YOU) should be put to shame in the 
matter of this confidence (t'Trocrrao-is, cf. 
xi, 17, literally, standing ground; then 
ground of hope, confidence). It is before 
Macedonians that Paul has made his boast 
(ver. 2) ; if Macedonians should see that 
it was an empty (Keviodfl) boast, he will 
be disgraced. The Corinthians, no doubt. 



even more than he, as it is they who are 
the cause of his disgrace ; but he chooses 
to appeal to their sense of honor by con- 
centrating their attention upon his own dis- 
grace. His reputation (as well as theirs) 
is at stake in the collection, for he has 
boasted about their liberality. 

5. Therefore, to avoid this disgrace 
(ver. 4), I thought it necessary to ex- 
hort or entreat the brethren (ver. 3) to 
go to you in advance, and to make up 
in advance your bounty promised in ad- 
vance (so that; ^<tt€ is understood) it 
might be ready as a real bounty (lit. so 
as, exactly as a bounty) and not as a nig- 
gardly gift. The three verbs compounded 
with Trpo (before) are very noticeable ; ar- 
rangements must be made before Paul's 
arrival, so^ that all will be ready when he 
arrives. evXoyia^ a blessing, usually in 
words, here in deeds — another name for 
the collection (cf. pcapt's, ddpoTrjs, viii. 19, 
20) ; TrXeove^ia is the greedy, grasping, un- 
generous spirit which keeps all it can. If 
the collection is not to have this appear- 
ance, it must be given without delay. 



The Rewards of Liberality (ix. 6-11). 

6, 7. Paul now turns to the spirit in 
which the contribution must be made, and 
the sure rewards of liberalit3^ Now (mark) 
this — the great principle which Paul is 
about to enunciate, that he who sows 
sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and 
he who sows bountifully (lit. on the prin- 
ciple of blcssini::s, i.e. bountiful gifts, cf. 
ver. 5 : the plural suggests the rich variety) 
shall also reap bountifully. By bounti- 
fully and spari)igly, Paul docs not neces- 
sarily mean much and little — the amount, 
great or small, has to be proportional to 
the means (viii. 11, 12) ; its acceptability- 
depends upon the readiness {-rrpoOvfxia, viii. 
12), the cheerfulness, hilarity {IXapSr-ns, cf. 
ix. 7) with which it is given. The gifts 
are compared to a scattering of seed, which 
has its inevitable harvest ; when or how the 



Ch. IX] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



185 



8 And God is able to make all grace 
abound toward you ; that ye, always having 
all sufficiency in all things, may abound to 
every good work : 

9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed 
abroad; he hath given to the poor: his 
righteousness remaineth for ever. 



ID Now he that ministereth seed to the 
sower both minister bread for your food, 
and multiply your seed sown, and increase 
the fruits of your righteousness:) 

II Being enriched in every thing to all 
bountifulness, which causeth through us 
thanksgiving to God. 



harvest is gathered, it is not said. The 
situation contemplated in viii. 14 suggests 
that the advantages to be reaped are ma- 
terial ; in truth they are both material 
and spiritual (ix. 12), liberality produces 
gratitude and thanksgiving to God (ver. 
11). The principle is one on which Paul 
elsewhere insists (cf. Gal. vi. 7, 8), that 
the reaping is unalterably conditioned by 
the sowing. And the money must be given 
not only quickly, but gladly, with a purpose 
that is deliberate (Trpo^prjTai) as well as 
sincere : let each one (give) as he has 
freely determined with the heart, not 
with (lit. out of) a feeling of regret or 
pain at having to part with his money, or 
under compulsion, constrained, for exam- 
ple, by appearance, public opinion, etc. : 
for it is a CHEERFUL giver that God 
loves. This last sentence is a quotation 
from the Greek version (quite unlike the 
Hebrew) of Prov. xxii. 8, whose evXoyel 
(God blesses a cheerful giver) has been 
changed into dyaird (loves). God's eyes, 
no less than the eyes of the churches (viii. 
24) are upon the givers and their gift. 
The good collection must be the outcome 
of a good spirit: it must be, to reverse the 
language of viii. 21, comely not only in the 
sight of men, but of God. 

8, 9. But where is the money to come 
from? the Corinthians might ask. An an- 
swer has already been suggested by viii. 2 ; 
even a church that is persecuted and in 
deep poverty has contrived to give with 
astonishing liberality. Here the point is 
that God is the master of the world's re- 
sources, and He can bless the liberally dis- 
posed with the means to liberality. He can 
(8, 9) and He ivill (10, 11). In all finan- 
cial efforts, and philanthropic aspirations. 
He must never be lost sight of (0 0e6s at 
end of ver. 7 and near beginning of ver. 8). 
God is able {bwarel, first and emphatic — 
all povc'er is with Him) to make all grace, 
gifts of every kind — here especially in the 
material sense — to abound unto you, in 
order that you, having always in every- 
thing all sufficiency, may not only have 
enough, but to spare for every good, i.e. 
charitable, work. avrdpKeia might mean 
contentment, but in this context, it more 
naturally means sufficiency of material re- 



sources. The four-fold repetition of Trdv 
is very impressive. The sufficiency is en- 
tire, continuous, and covers every depart- 
ment of life : and as God can make His 
grace, expressed in material things, abound 
(Trepto-o-eOo-at) to them, it is that they in 
turn may abound {■KepiaaeviqTe) in charity to 
others. The Lord of the world can give 
them enough for their own needs, and 
something over for the needs of others. 
In the words of scripture: "He scat- 
tered " — a fine expression for open-handed 
liberality — "he gave to the poor, his 
righteousness abideth for ever'* — a cita- 
tion from_ Psalm cxii. 9. In the psalm, this 
liberality is one of the features of " the man 
who fears the Lord" (ver. i) ; and so it 
may be here, illustrating the last phrase 
" abounding unto every charitable work." 
It may be taken, however, perhaps rather 
less naturally, to refer to God, the subject 
of the preceding sentence, as illustrating 
His liberality : He makes His grace 
abound, He scatters, gives to the poor, etc. 
It would be no objection to this view that 
it is against the original sense of the psalm. 
It is certain that, among the later Jews, 
dLKaioavpr] (righteousness) was often prac- 
tically equivalent to iXevfioavvr] (alms), cf. 
Mat. vi. I, where the textus receptus reads 
eX. for the more correct Slk. ; and that this 
may also be the case here is suggested by 
the third verse of the psalm where " right- 
eousness " is parallel with " wealth and 
riches." Even if the word have here its 
more general meaning of " righteousness," 
the particular expression of that character 
under consideration is, for the moment, lib- 
erality; so that we might almost render 
" his liberality abides for ever." 

10, II. God not only has the power 
(dvvarel^ 8, 9) but the will to give. And 
He (in Isaiah Iv. 10, the rain) who sup-, 
plies seed to the sower and so blesses 
the seed as to turn it into bread for eat- I 
ing (A. V. connects this wrongly with the i 
next verb) will supply and multiply the ' 
seed for your sowing ((Twopos, not <nrep/j.a, 
as before), i.e. will furnish you abundantly 
with means to sow broad-cast your liber- 
ality; and as the seed, blessed by God, 
comes back in the form of bread, so will 
He bless your liberality, biKaioavvT] ^ here 



186 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. IX 



12 For the administration of this service 
not only supplieth the want of the saints, 
but is abundant also by many thanksgivings 
unto God ; 

13 While by the experiment of this 
ministration they glorify God for your pro- 
fessed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, 



and for your liberal distribution unto them, 
and unto all men; 

14 And by their prayer for you, which 
long after you for the exceeding grace of 
God in you. 

15 Thanks be unto God for his un- 
speakable gift. 



regarded as seed, and cause it, too, to bring 
forth fruit increasingly — He will increase 
the fruits of your righteousness (i.e. lib- 
erality). The fruits of hberality are de- 
scribed more particularly in ver. 12 as 
partly material, partly spiritual. The 
phrase fruits of righteousness comes from 
the Greek version of Hosea x. 12 (not sup- 
ported by our present Hebrew text, which 
probably, however, should be emended). 
Verse 11 is attached to ver. 10 without any 
strict grammatical connection, the participle 
irXovTt^ofievoL^ which hangs by itself, refers to 
the you of the preceding verse : (you) 
who in ver. 8 were described as having in 
everything enough, are now described as 
being in everything enriched, that is, in 
material resources ; but these riches are to 
be further expressed in all liberality. By 
His gifts (x«P'5, ver. 8) God makes liber- 
ality possible ; this liberality is rewarded by 
the power to be more liberal, and it in- 
creases among those who enjoy its gifts a 
temper of devout gratitude, for it is of a 
kind (vTLs) which works out, through 
our mediation as we distribute it, thanks- 
giving to God. 

The Results of Liberality (ix, 12-15). 

12. This passage (12-15), whose gen- 
eral meaning is plain, though its construc- 
tions are rather complicated and uncertain, 
deals with some of the " fruits of right- 
eousness " (ver. 10). The collection is here 
called a Xeirovpyia (liturgy), a word em- 
ployed in classical Greek to describe some 
public service which the richer citizens dis- 
charged at their own expense : here it is a 
service to the saints (ver. i, 12, viii. 4). In 
viii. 19, 20 the collection is said to be ad- 
ministered (diaKovovfievT]) by Paul, and 
some have supposed that the ministration 
(diaKovia), to which he here (ver. 12) re- 
fers, is also his own : but verse 13, where 
the meaning is unambiguous, makes it 
practically certain that he means the min- 
istration of the Corinthians. For the (i.e. 
your) ministration of this charitable 
service to the poor Christians is one 
which not only supplies (earl with ptc.) 
the needs (vaTepvfjLara cf. viii. 14) of the 
saints, but further results in abundant 
thanksgivings (lit. "abounds by means of 



many thanksgivings ") to God. The results 
are both material and spiritual ; not only 
are the hungry fed, but a new spiritual at- 
mosphere is created among them. As Den- 
ney aptly says, " It is something to fill up 
further the measure of a brother's needs 
by a timely gift, but how much more it is 
to change the tune of his spirit, and whereas 
w^e found him cheerless or weak in faith, 
to leave him gratefully praising God." 

13. Verse 13, like ver. 11, is loosely 
attached to the preceding verse : the nom- 
inative participle do^d^ovres refers to the 
saints of ver. 12 who will be helped by 
the collection. The collection, or ministra- 
tion, diaKopia, is a test (doKifirf) of the Co- 
rinthians, just as affliction was a test of 
the Macedonians (viii. 2). Through the 
proving of your Christian character af- 
forded by this charitable ministration, 
they, the poor saints of Judea, glorify 
God for two reasons ; firstly, for the sub- 
jection of your confession with regard to 
the gospel of Christ, and secondly (for) 
the liberality of (your) contribution to 
them and to all. Their 6/xo\oyia was not, 
of course, the objective standard of their 
faith, but their subjective confession of it 
— here almost equal to " profession." This 
was in a state of subjection with regard to 
("'5: the construction is not, "in subjection 
to") the gospel of Christ: they submitted 
to its ideals, especially to its obligation to 
manifest practically the grace of God as 
proclaimed in the gospel of Christ. What- 
ever doubts had been entertained of the 
Corinthian church by the Judean Chris- 
tians, were now answered by this lib- 
erality, which was surely a very practical 
confession of faith, working by love. The 
" Twentieth Century New Testament " 
gives the general sense well : " for your 
fidelity to your profession of faith in the 
Good News of the Christ." This practical 
love of Gentile (Corinthian) Christians to 
Jewish Christians showed that the bonds 
of racial and religious difference had been 
broken, and the liberality the Corinthians 
had shown to the Judeans they would 
certainly be ready to show to all, but of 
such other charitable cfi^orts we have no 
positive knowledge. 

14, IS. Again the connection is loose. 
eiriirodovvTwv js a gcnit. absol., although it 



Ch. IX] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



' 187 



refers to the same persons as the nomin. 
do^d^ovres (ver. 13) : deiqaei, with prayed', is 
the dative of accompaniment. And they, 
the poor saints, would be so much touched 
by the Corinthian collection that, with in- 
tercessory prayer for you, they will long 
for closer intercourse with you, because of 
the abundant grace of God which has 
been poured upon you. The generous col- 
lection was to them the symbol of the 
grace of God, and they yearned to see 
those in whom such grace was manifest ; 
and if they could not see them, at least they 
commended them to God in grateful prayer. 
How mighty a force must this gospel have 
been which thus brought Jew and Gentile 
together! yet it manifests itself in the 
sphere of money. Paul saw the collection 
in its far-reaching spiritual effects, not 
merely as a relief of destitution ; and as 
he contemplates it all, he is almost over- 
whelmed by the wonder of it — riot of the 
contribution itself, as some suppose, of the 
Christian generosity which inspired it, the 
devout gratitude with which it was re- 
ceived, the sense of Christian brotherhood 
which it deepened and strengthened — but 
by the wonder of the redemption wrought 
by Christ, that mighty force which created 
all these things. And, as in i Cor. xv. 57 
he concludes his consideration of the resur- 
rection, so here he concludes his discussion 
of the collection, with a spontaneous burst 
of praise : Thanks be to God for His 
unspeakable gift. The epithet unspeak- 
able here (like unsearchable in Rom. xi. 
Z2>), can be fittingly referred to nothing less 
than God's supreme gift in Christ, the per- 
fect exhibition of His grace, the source and 



inspiration of every human grace. The 
gifts of the Corinthians, of the Mace- 
donians, all human gifts, are small in com- 
parison with that unspeakable gift — but 
rays of that infinite light. 



The whole difficult subject of the col- 
lection is handled by Paul with a delicacy 
that is only equalled by its earnestness. 
In the contribution of the Corinthians, 
Paul's own honor is at stake, for he has 
spoken to others with pride about them ; 
and still more, their own honor as Chris- 
tian men. The eyes of the churches are 
upon them (viii. 24), the eyes of God are 
upon them (ix. 7). Their own material 
and spiritual future will depend upon their 
response to his appeal. Ex nihilo nihil fit. 
They will reap exactly as they sow — no 
less and no more. 

Further, they ought to give not only gen- 
erously but cheerfully; and how can they 
fail to do this — when they see what the 
fruits of their gift will be? It will not 
only relieve distress, but it will create a 
new spiritual atmosphere for the men re- 
heved. It will fill their hearts with grat- 
itude, it will disarm suspicion, it will be a 
practical proof of the reality and power of 
the gospel, it will strengthen the sense of 
brotherhood, it will turn distant strangers 
into earnest, eager friends, who pray for 
their benefactors and long for a sight of 
their face. Was it not natural that, as 
Paul thought of all this, and of Him 
whose redeeming love had made it all pos- 
sible, he should cry "' Thanks be unto God 
for His unspeakable gift?" 



188 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. X 



PAUL'S VINDICATION OF HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY 

(x.-xiii). 



CHAPTER lo. 
I Now I Paul myself beseech you by 



the meekness and gentleness of Christ, 
who in presence am base among you, but 
being absent am bold toward you : 



The most cursory reader cannot fail to 
perceive an abrupt difference in tone, as he 
passes from ch. viii. to ch. x. The former 
chapters were comphmentary and affec- 
tionate ; this and the following chapters 
are heated, polemical, and in part ironical. 
There, the Corinthians were his beloved 
" brethren," of whom he was proud, and of 
whose generosity he was not afraid to 
boast ; here there are enemies in the camp 
— enemies who have been challenging his 
authorit}^, and detracting from his credit, 
and who will therefore have to be sum- 
marily dealt with. They will have to be 
convinced, by its impact upon themselves, 
that Paul's authority is a very real thing, 
and that he is just as capable of exercising 
it before their eyes as he is by means of 
correspondence. 

Indeed so striking is the difference of 
tone between this section and the preceding 
that some scholars have felt themselves 
obhged to regard this as a separate letter. 
Such a supposition, however, hardly seems 
to be necessary. Paul had just been urg- 
ing the Corinthians to show that generosity 
for which he had given them credit. But 
what is the use of urging appeal or counsel 
of any kind upon a people among whom 
his authority is being boldly challenged? 
There is a spirited and venomous opposition 
to him in the Corinthian church, which is 
not only undermining his authority, but 
imperilling the peace, unity and spiritual 
progress of the church. It is not unnat- 
ural, then, that in the closing chapters he 
should turn to deal with this opposition, 
and to vindicate, with dignity but empha- 
sis, his challenged authority. 



Paul's Reply to the Charge of Cozvardice 
(X. 1-6). 

I. The very first words show that Paul 
is writing with unusual emotion. He docs 
not say simply / entreat (TrapaKaXw) you, 
but I (the emphatic ^7^) Paul (for the em- 
phatic combination / Paul cf. Gnl. v. 2. Eph. 
iii. I, Philemon 19) myself (avros) entreat 
you. Perhaps from this emphatic introduc- 



tion, it may be inferred that he wrote this 
passage with his own hand (cf. Philemon 
19, I Cor. xvi. 21, Gal. vi. 11); or simply, 
that as he has already used the first pers. 
plu. so much, he now distinctly wishes to 
dissociate Timothy (i. i) from what he is 
about to say. In either case, the words in- 
dicate that the passage to follow is of an 
intensely personal nature: it concerns him- 
self. It is his authority that has been 
challenged; and with great boldness he 
puts his personality into the very forefront 
of the discussion. There is no time when 
a man is apt to speak with more heat than 
in defending himself; and Paul guards 
himself at the beginning, by reminding 
himself, that the appeal must be made by 
the meekness and gentleness of Christ. 
The language which follows is very strong, 
but Paul reminds the Corinthians that the 
motive which inspires it is the highest; he 
speaks in the name and in the spirit of 
the Christ who claimed to be meek and 
lowly (Mat. xi. 29). eTriei/ct'a is equitable- 
ness, the kindly spirit which does not nar- 
rowly insist upon its rights. The brunt of 
the charge against him is at once intro- 
duced: / beseech you (I) who, as you say, 
to (your) face, am humble among you 
but courageous toward you when I am 
away. A coward at close quarters, a 
brave man at a distance; one who can 
write bold letters, but who lacks authority 
and courage, when he comes in person — 
such is their description of Paul. We 
have already seen that Paul was accused 
of fickleness and indecision (i. 17) ; his 
conduct was easily misinterpreted by those 
who did not understand its inspiring mo- 
tives. His caution and his tenderness were 
mistaken for cowardice: he is raweivos 
" lowly " in a bad sense, he has no power 
of self-assertion. It is significant that the 
epithet with which the Corinthians reproach 
Paul is used by Jesus in Mat. xi. 29 to 
characterize Himself — lozcly of heart. 
For Paul's opponents there is no Christian 
aroma about the word. Courage was 
Paul's motto (iv. 16, v. 6, 7). and his 
courageous life is the best answer to this 
charge of cowardice : cf. Acts xxiv. 25 (the 



Ch. X] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



189 



2 But I beseech you, that I may not be 
bold when I am present with that conjfi- 
dence, wherewith I think to be bold against 
some, which think of us as if we walked 
according to the flesh. 

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we 
do not war after the flesh : 

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are 
not carnal, but mighty through God to the 
pulling down of strong holds;) 



5 Casting down imaginations, and every 
high thing that exalteth itself against the 
knowledge of God, and bringing into cap- 
tivity every thought to the obedience of 
Christ ; 

6 And having in a readiness to revenge 
all disobedience, when your obedience is 
fulfilled. 



scene before Felix), Acts xxi. 13 (where 
he professes himself ready to die at Jeru- 
salem). 

2. What Paul entreated the Corinthians 
to do in ver. i is not said, it becomes plain 
in ver. 2 where the request is introduced 
by another and stronger word, Seo/xat,; this 
point is obscured by A. V. which renders 
both verbs by beseech. Yes, I beseech 
(you) that I may not, when I come, 
have to show my courage with the con- 
fidence with which I count on being 
bold against some who count us as walk- 
ing after the flesh. He refers to his 
enemies allusively as some; their charge is 
that he walks after the flesh, i.e. that his 
conduct is guided by unspiritual motives. 
The particular meaning of this general 
phrase must be determined by the context ; 
here, apparently, the implication is that he 
is timid, complaisant, afraid of offending, 
has no divine courage or initiative. Paul 
only hopes it will not be necessary for 
him to show his courage. He can do more 
than write effective letters ; if need be, he 
is prepared to come to them with his " rod " 
(i Cor. iv. 21), and he is thoroughly con- 
fident (ireTToidriaei) that he will be more than 
a match for them. Note how 'Koyi^ofiaL 
(and \oyL(Tfji6s, ver. 5) echoes through the 
passage (cf. vv. 7, 11) ; he has a calcula- 
tion which meets and matches theirs. 

3, 4. Into his defense Paul introduces 
military metaphors. His life is not only a 
walk {irepLTTaTovvTas) , it is a warfare 
((TTparevofieda) , not only against the evil 
that is in the world, but within the church 
itself, as proved by the assaults he is at 
present repelHng. Of course, so long as 
he is a mortal man, he must walk in the 
flesh, subject to its limitations, which pre- 
vent him from doing and being all that he 
would ; but he does not walk after, accord- 
ing to (Kara) the flesh; the principles 
on which he conducts his campaign 
{cTparevoixeda) are determined purely by 
spiritual, not by natural, carnal considera- 
tions. For, walking as we do and as we 
must in the flesh, we do not war accord- 
ing to the flesh. Paul is no coward, as 



his opponents say (ver. i), he is a warrior, 
and his campaign is not only courageous 
but successful. For the weapons of our 
warfare, fully described in Eph. vi. 11-17, 
are not fleshly but — here we expect him 
to say spiritual, but, as that is implicit in 
the contrast, he calls attention rather to 
their power, their invincible effectiveness — 
divinely powerful to the demolition of 
strongholds, i.e. of all the entrenched and 
mighty influences that defy the gospel. The 
weapons are dwara tw Gew, not, as in A. V. 
mighty through (by means of) God," but, 
as in A. R. V. "mighty before God" (in 
His eyes), practically equal to "divinely, 
supernaturally," as in the description of the 
beauty of Moses (Acts vii. 20), and the 
size of Nineveh (Jonah iii. 3). 

5, 6. Verse 4 is parenthetical, ver. 5 
connects with ver. 3; we zcar, demolishing 
subtle imaginations, sophistical calculations 
(Xoyta-fMovs is an echo of Xoyi^o/neuovs, ver. 2), 
and every high thing that lifts itself up 
against the gospel, through the proclama- 
tion of which comes the knowledge of 
God. The military metaphors are still 
kept up. The high things which rise in 
opposition to the gospel are, in general, 
those moral and intellectual tempers, habits, 
attitudes, which make one callous to the 
Christian appeal. An indication of what 
is meant will be found in the word XoyLcr/jLovs, 
which perhaps suggests primarily the soph- 
istries, or at least the arguments, by which 
the Greeks resisted the gospel. The 
weapons by which Paul demolished these 
arguments were not "persuasive words of 
wisdom," but weapons of the spirit and 
power (i Cor. ii. 4, dvpd/xeujs, as here Sward) , 
Still the militarv metaphors are main- 
tained ; we war, demolishing every strong- 
hold of opposition, and taking" captive 
every thought or device of the mind 
(p6T]f/.a), leading it into the land of (els) 
obedience to Christ. The mind that 
formerly defied and resisted Christ and His 
gospel, is now by these mighty weapons 
of Paul the evangelist, reduced to obedience. 
The completeness of his triumph is sug- 
gested by the repetition of -rrdu; the gospel 



190 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. X 



7 Do ye look on things after the out- 
ward appearance? If any man trust to 
himself that he is Christ's, let him of him- 
self think this again, that, as he is Christ's, 
even so are we Christ's. 

8 For though I should boast somewhat 



more of our authority, which the Lord 
hath given us for edification, and not for 
your destruction, I should not be ashamed : 
9 That I may not seem as if I would 
terrify you by letters. 



weapons are powerful to reduce every 
stronghold; alike in the heathen and in 
the Jewish world Paul has many a time 
seen this surrender to Christ. Paul is a 
soldier, his campaign is successful, and he 
is ready to punish the rebels, or, as he 
says, to avenge every disobedience 

{trapaKOT) opposed to vrraKori). He is not 
the coward they think he is, and he will 
show them that, if need be, when he comes. 
How he will assert his authority against 
the recalcitrants, he does not say — per- 
haps as in I Cor. v. 5 ; but clearly it is 
no idle threat, he only hopes he will not 
have to put it into execution (ver. 2). In 
any case, he will only do it when YOUR 
obedience shall be fulfilled. Paul deals 
in love and with a tender regard for the 
church as a whole, from which he care- 
fully distinguishes the recalcitrant minority ; 
and he will only discipline the offenders, 
when the full obedience of the church, as 
a whole, has been demonstrated. 



Paul is clearly stung by the reproach 
that he is at heart a coward and brave 
only on paper. But the reproach draws 
from him a noble defense in which he 
significantly compares his life to a war- 
fare — one however in which the weapons 
he wields are invincible, and the campaign 
one long triumph. He knows from expe- 
rience how proud and powerful is the op- 
position to the gospel ; but he knows, too, 
the power of the gospel to overcome it, 
to demolish it (note Kadaipeaiv^ Kadaipovpres) , 
A warrior like Paul, with such a record 
of successes behind him, is not likely to be 
terrified by the slanders of his opponents ; 
he will come and meet them face to face, 
and discipline, in some stern way, their re- 
bellious spirit. 



Paul's Authority and Mission Have Been 

Divinely Entrusted to Him 

(x. 7-18). 

7. The connection between this para- 
graph and the preceding depends upon the 
manner in which the first sentence is con- 
strued. There are three possibilities. It 
may be taken (a) as in A. V. interroga- 



tively, " Do ye look on things after the out- 
ward appearance?" or (b) as in A. R. V. 
affirmatively, " Ye look at the things that 
are before your face;" or (c) imperatively; 
" Look at what is before your face." The 
choice seems really to lie between (b) and 
(c). The objection to (c), though it is 
far from fatal, is that the verb (^XeTrere), 
if imperative, would more naturally have 
come first than last. If imperative, it will 
be Paul's appeal to the Corinthians to open 
their eyes to facts, to contrast his claims 
and his achievements with those of his op- 
ponents. If (b) is adopted, Paul reproaches 
his opponents with seeing only the things 
before their eyes — their tests are external. 
Their claim to be Christ's is based prob- 
ably upon some external and religiously 
indifferent fact, such as their having seen 
the earthly Jesus, or their having been 
acquainted with the leaders of the Jeru- 
salem church (cf. i Cor. i. 12). It is clear 
at any rate from xi. 22 that Paul's oppo- 
nents are Judaizers. Perhaps, on the whole 
(c) is preferable. Look at the facts be- 
fore your face. If any one has confi- 
dence in himself that he is Christ's, let 
him think again (not on the other hand) 
and consider {'KoyL^eadw, cf. ver. 2) this 
carefully in his own mind that we too 
are Christ's just as he is. At this point 
Paul only claims bare equality; as the ar- 
gument advances, he advances his claims. 
He does not here prove his claims as in 
I Cor. ix. I f. by pointing to his success 
at Corinth, or to his vision of the risen 
Christ, as in i Cor. xv. 9; the proof, which 
he adduces later (xi. 21-30) lies in what 
he has suffered for the gospel's sake. 

8, 9. Paul's claim to be Christ's then, is 
at least as valid as theirs. But more : he 
possesses, as he has just claimed invv. 
2-6, an authority which has been given 
him by the Lord Himself. Yes, and if 
I boast (not, as A. V. "though I should 
boast :" he has already boasted in 2-6) 
somewhat extravagantly about our au- 
thority, which THE LORD gave me for 
your upbuilding and not for your demol- 
ition (cf. the similar statement of the 
source and function of his authority in xiii. 
10), I shall not be put to shame — when 
next he comes to Corinth, they will find 
that he knows how to exercise his au- 



Ch. X] 



II COEINTHIANS. 



191 



10 For his letters, say they, are weighty 
and powerful ; but his bodily presence is 
weak, and his speech contemptible. 

11 Let such a one think this, that, such 
as we are in word by letters when we are 
absent, such will we be also in deed when 
we are present. 

12 For we dare not make ourselves of 
the number, or compare ourselves with 



some that commend themselves : but they, 
measuring themselves by themselves, and 
comparing themselves among themselves, 
are not wise. 

13 But we will not boast of things with- 
out our measure, but according to the 
measure of the- rule which God' hath dis- 
tributed to us, a measure to reach even 
unto you. 



thority • and this he says, that I may not 
give the impression of scaring you, as 
it were, out of your wits by my letters, 

of which he had at least written two — 
I Cor. and that referred to in i Cor. v. 9. 
The impression they get from his letters 
will be confirmed, as he tells them in ver. 
II, by the impression they will get when 
he comes in person. The authority which 
his opponents dispute was given to Paul 
by the Lord Himself, their authority has no 
such source; and its object was the edifi- 
cation, and not the destruction of the Co- 
rinthian church, unlike the authority of 
his opponents, such as it was, which was 
exercised not to the edification of the 
church but to its destruction. In modern 
Greek ws av, has degenerated into <yo.v, as, 
like : <yo.v irpodor-ns^ like a traitor. Verse 9 
has a fine definition of the function of 
authority — "to build up and not to pull 
down." The strongholds of opposition to 
the gospel have indeed to be pulled down 
(same word, Kadaipeaiv, ver. 4), but this in 
order that the men themselves may be built 
up. 

10, II. Those who had accused Paul of 
being courageous at a distance (ver. i) 
meant that he could write bold and vigor- 
ous letters. For his letters, they say, are 
weighty and powerful, but his bodily 
presence is weak, and his speaking con- 
temptible (lit. despised as of no account). 
" This passage," says Stanley, is the only 
instance of the very words used by St. 
Paul's opponents. It thus gives a con- 
temporary judgment on his Epistles, and 
a contemporary description of himself." 
Whether 0ri<^iv (one says, or he says, with 
reference to the tls of ver. 7, or the such 
a one of ver. 11) or (paaiv (they say) is 
read, the meaning is the same. The effect 
produced by Paul's letters, admitted here, 
is attested in the striking description of 
vii. 8-1 1. The depreciatory reference to 
himself, however, is capable of various in- 
terpretations. Tradition describes him as 
insignificant and awkward in appearance ; 
and it is Barnabas, and not he, who is 
worshipped by the people of Lystra as Zeus 
(Jupiter, Acts xiv. 12). He had the tem- 



perament of the ecstatic (i Cor. xiv. 18, 2 
Cor. xii. i), and no doubt that highly 
strung nervous nature which accompanies 
it (i Cor. ii. 3) ; and it is altogether prob- 
able that his public appearances were not 
impressive to Greeks who loved poise and 
beauty of body. Nor can his speaking, if 
we may_ judge by his letters, have satisfied 
the fastidious taste of the Greeks, though 
his overwhelming earnestness must always 
have been imoressive (Acts xiv. 12). It is 
possible, however, that the reference here 
is to neither of these things. We are apt 
to interpret " bodily presence " as if it 
meant " bodily appearance ;" but in reality, 
presence here points back to the present 
of ver. 2, a verse which helps in the in- 
terpretation of this one. When Paul is 
bodily present, he is weak — in the lan- 
guage of ver. 2, not bold, courageous : in 
other words, ineffective. His words, which 
were not persuasive words of wisdom ( i 
Cor. ii. 4) would not impress the subtle 
Greeks with their love of eloquence. His 
words and his presence alike were inef- 
fective, they came to nothing. Such is the 
charge, and Paul replies; Let such a one 
consider this (they are so fond of such 
considerations, calculations ; Xoyi^eadco is in- 
tended to recall the use of the word in 
vv. 2, 5, etc.) that our conduct, when 
we are present, will correspond exactly 
with the words of our letters when we 
are absent. Paul plays here on the fa- 
miliar Greek contrast between 'Koyos and 
epyov, word and deed. He will show them 
how slanderous is their charge that he is 
a hero at a distance and on paper, but a 
coward at close quarters. Everywhere and 
always he is a brave man. If that is the 
impression of him they get from his letters, 
it is a true impression, as they will find 
when they see him. The specific applica- 
tion, in the context, is ; " as we are by 
letter, so (shall we be) in deed " ; but 
probably the word to be supplied is rather 
we are than we shall be. Paul is always 
the same: as he writes, so is he (and this 
they will discover in the near future). 

12, 13. We now enter upon a passage 
(12-16) bristling with difficulties. Paul has 



192 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. X 



14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond 
our measure, as though we reached not 



unto you ; for we are come as far as to you 
also in preaching the gospel of Christ: 



jr.st claimed to be a courageous man, as 
brave in d^eed as he is in word. But, he 
ironically continues, there is a certain kind 
of courage he does not profess to have. 
For we have not the boldness (ToXfxcjfiev, 
cf. ToXfxrjaat^ ( vcr. 2) to rank ourselves 
among or compare ourselves with some 
of those who commend themselves. 
This charge of self-commendation they had 
levelled at Paul (iii. i, v. 12), whereas it 
was they themselves who were guilty of 
the practice. By a word-play which it is 
impossible to reproduce in English (two 
compounds of Kpiveiv^ with ev and o-^^^), 
Paul affirms that he has not the courage 
to range himself among or alongside of 
these men. Men who commend themselves, 
having nothing but themselves with which 
to measure themselves, can only end by 
boasting immeasurably (a/xerpa) ; and Paul 
frankly confesses that he has not the cour- 
age to join such a company. The two 
sentences that follow are very difficult. 
The introductory words create the impres- 
sion that Paul is about to speak of his 
ozi.'n habits — dWa avToi^ etc.: "but we our- 
selves, measuring ourselves by ourselves, 
and comparing ourselves with ourselves — " 
but at this point we are suddenly pulled up 
by a verb in the third person ov <7vuidai.u. 
If the text be correct, we must retrace our 
steps and refer avrol to Paul's opponents : 
" But they themselves, measuring them- 
selves by themselves, and comparing them- 
selves with themselves, have no understand- 
ing," no sense, no intelligence : that is, it 
is stupid to attempt to measure oneself, 
without some standard other than oneself. 
Instead of awidaiv, however, cwlovclv is 
also read, and the avroi can be retained 
for Paul by regarding (xvvlovclv as a dative, 
the sentence running on into the next verse, 
and the subject being resumed by rf/^e's U. 
Thus : " but we ourselves measuring our- 
selves by ourselves, and comparing our- 
selves with ourselves, who are devoid of 
understanding (as they suppose), we will 
not boast iDeyond our measure." This, 
however, even if we had the toIs before ov 
cvviovai,, which is practically necessary, is 
distinctly artificial. Besides tlie riM^ts 5e, u'c, 
appears to be in implicit contrast with the 
preceding avrol which must then be trans- 
lated by they. The Western text, which 
omits ov avvLovcriv iifxeis 5e, secures a 
comparatively smooth reading: "we our- 
selves, measuring ourselves by ourselves 



and comparing ourselves with ourselves, 
will not boast immeasurably." But the 
very simplicity of this reading is suspicious. 
If it be original, how could it ever have 
been altered to the much more difficult 
reading of the other AISS? It is more 
credible that the difficult reading is the 
original one, and that the omitted words 
were dropped to secure a simpler text. 
The question of the text is by no means 
an idle one; the simpler text makes Paul 
say that he measures himself by himself, the 
longer text makes him say that that is up- 
intelligent — that is what his opponents do. 
The difference, how^ever, is more apparent 
than real; for, in the former case, Paul 
would be measuring his actual self by his 
ideal self, by the self to which he is com- 
mitted by divine appointment (ver. 13). 
The sense probably is then : but THEY, 
measuring themselves by themselves, and 
comparing themselves with themselves, 
are unintelligent. WE, however, who ac- 
knowledge a higher standard than ourselves, 
will not boast beyond measure, that is, 
beyond the measure that is appropriate for 
us ; the others boast immeasurably, because 
they have no measure or standard beyond 
themselves. Not so does Paul boast, but 
according to the measure of the line 
which God allotted us as a measure, that 
we should reach as far as you. Kavuv is 
a measuring-line, then a standard, norm 
(cf. Gal. vi. 16) ; it is used here in a gen- 
eral way, to indicate the sphere of work di- 
vinely assigned to Paul, much as we should 
use the English word " line." The evan- 
gelization of the Gentiles was Paul's " line " 
(cf. Gal. ii. 8, 9). To this he kept, by 
this standard he consented to be tried, for 
work done within this limit he was prepared 
to boast, at least "in the Lord" (ver. 17). 
It was in recognition of his divine com- 
mission to the Gentiles that he had gone 
as far as Corinth {you) ; and this very 
commission, broad as the world, was bound 
to carry him further still (ver. 16). 

14. Paul has a divine right to be in 
Corinth ; to preach there, as it is heathen 
ground, is part of his ' line.' For we are 
not stretching ourselves beyond (our 
bounds), as we sIkmiUI be doing if our 
sphere did not reach (lit. "as if we were 
n(^t reaching") unto you — he maintains in 
ver. 13 that it did extend thus far — for 
we came ((f)6dpu} is used almost in its 
modern Greek sense of arrize. not in the 



Ch. X] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



193 



15 Not boasting of things without our 
measure, that is, of other men's labours ; 
but having hope, when your faith is in- 
creased, that we shall be enlarged by you 
according to our rule abundantly. 

16 To preach the gospel in the regions 
beyond you, and not to boast in another 



man's line of things made ready to our 
hand. 

17 But he that glorieth, let him glory 
in the Lord. 

18 For not he that commendeth him- 
self is approved, but whom the Lord com- 
mendeth. 



classical sense of anticipate) as far as you 
at Corinth, in the proclamation of the 
gospel of Christ. 

15, 16. The thought of ver. 13, which 
was interrupted by the parenthetic ver. 14, 
is resumed, and the introductory words are 
the same — "not boasting beyond (our) 
measure." The point there stated positively 
is here put negatively. There he boasted of 
work done in the sphere divinely assigned 
him — work among the Gentiles; here the 
point is that it is his own work he boasts 
of, not (like his opponents) of work done 
by other men. Stanley well remarks that 
the arrangement by which Paul was to work 
among the Gentiles " was doubly infringed 
by the appearance of Jewish teachers at 
Corinth ; the sphere of the Apostle of the 
Gentiles was invaded by Jews ; the sphere 
which St. Paul had won for himself by 
his own labors, was appropriated by those 
who had no original claim to it." Part of 
the tragedy of Paul's missionary career was 
that his steps were dogged by these Jewish 
teachers (cf. Ep. to Galatians). He could 
truthfully describe himself as not boasting 
beyond measure, in other men's labors, 
having hope, that, as your faith grows, 
we may through you attain to our true 
greatness in our evangelical work, in ac- 
cordance with our divinely appointed line 
{Kavujv) or sphere of work, and even unto 
glorious abundance, so as to bring the 
gospel even into the regions beyond you, 
instead of boasting, as my opponents are 
doing, in work that is another man's line, 
of things ready to hand. Paul did the 
pioneer work, and they took the credit for 
it. Paul's principle is to go where the gos- 
pel has not yet been preached. He has 
been as far as Corinth, but his hope and 
intention are ultimately to go to Spain 
(Rom. XV. 24) ; it will depend upon the 
Corinthians {^v v/xlv) and upon 'the progress 
of their faith, when he will be able to go 
to the far west, and achieve his great evan- 
gehcal commission. 

17, 18. The word boast has occurred 
with great frequency throughout this sec- 
tion. It has been forced upon Paul by the 
challenge of his opponents : but once he has 
taken the word up, he uses it fearlessly, and 
shows its relative justification. They have 



compelled him to vindicate himself, and he 
does so with no false modesty. He knows 
that he is the great pioneer evangelist : he 
claims nothing less than the whole heathen 
world for his sphere of operations ; and 
he knows that his work has been crowned 
by the most signal success (4-6). But it 
is the Lord's work rather than his, it is 
through the grace of God that he is what 
he is, and has done what he has done ( i 
Cor. XV. 10) ; and of this, in conclusion, he 
reminds himself afresh, using, as he had 
done before (i Cor. i. 31), an ancient word 
of Jeremiah (ix. 24) ; but let him that 
boasteth boast in the Lord (the Lord is 
probably God, as in Jer., rather than 
Christ). For, as for the man who com- 
mends himself, as his opponents are doing 
(ver. 12) HE (e/cetVos) is not the man who 
is approved in the sight of God, but it is 
he whom the Lord commends. 



It is interesting to note how easily Paul 
is carried forward from the discussion of 
local or personal affairs to the most daring 
thoughts and the most brilliant imagina- 
tions (cf. i. 17 ff.). The larger aspects of 
his teaching and ministry are never far 
from his mind, and it is these that support 
and inspire the detail. Here his character 
and authority have been challenged. In 
his defense, he is led to think of his mis- 
sion In life, which is to preach the gospel 
of Christ. He has an overwhelming sense 
of being divinely called to that work. His 
authority has been conferred upon him by 
no other than the Lord Himself : he has a 
divinely appointed " line." But this line 
goes out throughout the whole world. It 
stretches to Corinth, to Rome, to Spain. 
He has a vision of a Christian world, and 
his soul glows at the contemplation of it. 
When the Corinthian faith is mature 
enough (ver. 15) and their obedience com- 
plete _ (ver. 6) he will be free to turn to 
the distant lands at the western end of the 
Great Sea, there to proclaim the gospel of 
his Lord. Only then will he achieve his 
true greatness — greatness in the service 
of the Lord and the gospel — when he has 
carried the good news to the regions be- 
yond Greece (ver. 15). 



194 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XI 



CHAPTER II. 

1 Would to God ye could bear with me 
a little in my folly: and indeed bear with 
me. . 

2 For I am jealous over you with godly 
jealousy: for I have espoused you to one 
husband, that I may present you as a chaste 
virgin to Christ. 



3 But I fear, lest by any means, as 
the serpent beguiled Eve through his sub- 
tilty, so your minds should be corrupted 
from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

4 For if he that cometh preachcth an- 
other Jesus, whom we have not preached, 
or if ye receive another spirit, which ye 
have not received, or another gospel, which 
ye have not accepted, ye might well bear 
with him. 



Paul's Boldness in Asserting His Apostolic 
Authority is Due to His Fear That the 
Corinthian Fidelity May Be Cor- 
rupted by His Opponents 
(xi. 1-6). 

I, 2. Paul has been forced, by the chal- 
lenge of his opponents, into an argument 
which is to him distasteful. Boasting is 
uncongenial to him, however congenial it 
may have been to his opponents (x. i6). In 
this case it is indeed necessary; but he de- 
scribes it deprecatingly as folly; and he 
asks the Corinthians to tolerate it just a 
little longer, as the matter which has ex- 
torted this self-vindication from him is one 
of the gravest importance. Oh that you 
would bear with me in a little more of 
this boasting, to which I have been re- 
luctantly forced, and which may well be 
called folly. But I do not need thus to 
entreat you : I have already had experience 
of your indulgence, you DO (Kal) bear 
with me. This seems better than to take 
dvex^ade as imperative ; " nay, do bear with 
me." After this httle touch oi banter 
(dcppoavpT]) , the old earnestness is resumed. 
Nothing less is at stake than the fidelity 
of the Corinthians to their betrothal vows. 
Christ is the bridegroom, the Corinthian 
church is the bride, Paul is the bride- 
groom's friend who has espoused the one 
to the other, and he has all the interest 
of the bridegroom himself in preserving the 
purity and fidelity of the bride. These 
things are being seriously imperilled by 
Paul's opponents ; the Corinthian church is 
in danger of being seduced, and Paul ^ is 
jealous for her honor with a jealousy in- 
spired by God Himself, what he calls a 
jealousy of God, so called also partly be- 
cause the honor of God is at stake. It is 
no little affair of his own that leads Paul 
into his impetuous vindication of himself; 
it is not a personal, but a divine jealousy — 
and that is why he asks them to bear with 
him. For I am jealous over you with 
a godly jealousy; for I betrothed (the 
middle, as here -hpfioadfirip, is in classical 
Greek generallv used of the bridegroom 



himself, and the active of the father or 
the bridesman) you to one man, to present 
(you) as a pure virgin to Christ at His 
coming. The marriage takes place when 
He comes, the intervening period is the 
time of betrothal. The church, like the 
maiden, must be pure, chaste ; she must 
belong to and be faithful to one man, 
whereas the fidelity of the Corinthians is 
being drawn off to another Jesus (ver. 4). 
The Old Testament conception (cf. Hosea 
i.-iii.) of the relation between Jehovah and 
Israel as a wedding bond is here trans- 
ferred to the relation between Christ and 
the church. 

3. This was Paul's hope and ideal that 
the Church would be presented pure to 
Christ. But now, however, he is afraid 
that she, hke Eve (Gen. iii.) may be se- 
duced. The same diabolic tendencies are 
in the world now as then. Then Satan 
came in the form of a serpent (in Rev. 
xii. 9, XX. 2 the serpent and the devil or 
Satan are identified) ; now he works 
through Paul's Judaistic opponents. The 
co-mparison with Eve is happy ; her tempta- 
tion is the first and great temptation (in 
O. T.) ; and the church has been repre- 
sented in ver. 2 as a zconiati. I am afraid 
lest perchance, as the serpent deceived 
Eve in his craftiness, your thoughts 
should be corrupted and so diverted from 
the simplicity that is set on Christ and 
on Him alone. He is the one man (ver. 
2), simplicity of affection can have but one 
object. After simplicity, Westcott and 
Hort, following some MSS. add (in 
brackets) Kal t^s dyvor-qTos, and purity. It 
is possible, however, that this is an addi- 
tion, explanatory of the word simplicity. 
and suggested by the word pure above. 

4. Paul has good reason to be afraid 
that the fidelity" of the Corinthians may 
be corrupted ; for he sees them " tolerating," 
if not welcoming, the men whose gospel 
is very different from his own. These op- 
ponents of his are intruders, they come 
from elsewhere, from Judaea — at any rate 
the leading spirits; and the situation would 
be all the more dramatic, if, as is possible, 



Ch. XI] 



ir CORINTHIANS, 



195 



5 For I suppose I was not a whit be- 
hind the very chiefest apostles. 

6 But though / be rude in speech, yet 



not in knowledge; but we have been thor- 
oughly made manifest among you in all 
things. 



there is one man who stands over against 
Paul, leading and concentrating the oppo- 
sition in his own person, o ipxofiepos may 
mean " any one that comes," but there 
almost seems to be something semi-official 
about the phrase, " he that is coming." 
He (or they, as the case may be) pro- 
claimed another Jesus; not another Christ 
or Messiah, — for to them as to Paul, Jesus 
was the Messiah — but another conception 
of Jesus, not the crucified Savior, whom 
Paul preached (i Cor, ii. 2). They may 
have laid stress on their earthly connection 
with Jesus, on knowing him " according to 
the flesh." It is not a bare possibility that 
Paul is contemplating — "if he were to 
preach another Jesus, you would bear with 
him" — it is a fact; the Greek mood neces- 
sitates that interpretation — " he who cometh 
fo preaching" {Kripvaaei) , Another {oXkos) 
Jesus means a different {erepov) gospel 
and a different spirit. Paul's grievance is 
that the Corinthians tolerate with pleasure 
all this subversion of the gospel, while he 
who founded the church and gave them 
the true gospel, thus espousing them to the 
one man Christ, has to beg for a little tol- 
eration for himself (notice the echo in 
dvexeade of the dvelxecrde in ver. l). He 
expresses himself ironically ; " you put up 
splendidly, nobly (/caXws) with such a man 
and such a message." For if the (new)- 
comer preaches another Jesus whom we 
did not preach, or ye receive a different 
spirit from that which ye received at 
baptism, or a different gospel from that 
which you voluntarily (thus is idi^aade dis- 
tinguished from eXdjSere) accepted from 
me at your conversion, you grandly bear 
with such a man and such a message ! 
dvex^ade (indie. , not imper.) is to be pre- 
ferred to dveix^Gde, you bore with him. 
The spirit introduced by the Judaizers and 
their gospel is the spirit of legalism, bond- 
age (Rom. viii. 15) ; for a similar contrast 
between their gospel and Paul's, cf. Gal. i. 
6-8. 

5, 6. "And if," Paul implies, "you bear 
so nobly with them, why not with me ? " 
For I count myself to be in no respect 
inferior to these pre-eminent apostles of 
yours? Who are these? Hardly Peter, 
James and John. Paul certainly refers to 
them in a very independent way in Gal. ii, 
6, 9; and as their names would be fre- 
quently upon the lips of the Judaizers at 
Corinth, some of whom may even have 



brought from these apostles letters of rec- 
ommendation, it is just possible that this 
phrase, " the supereminent apostles," refers 
to them, not of course ironically or disre- 
spectfully — Paul would simply be tossing 
back upon the Judaizers their own pet 
phrase. But any reference to these apos- 
tles would be somewhat irrelevant in this 
context. It is more probably the leaders 
of the Judaizing party themselves to whom 
Paul ironically refers as the supereminent 
apostles, the same men as are in ver. 13 
roundly called false apostles. He may 
perhaps be inferior to those men in orator- 
ical devices ; but where the gospel is con- 
cerned, _ those things count for nothing. 
The thing that counts is knowledge, the. 
knowledge of God and of His saving will 
and purpose in Christ; and this he has 
made it abundantly plain that he possesses, 
" I am not a whit behind those fine apos- 
tles of yours; but though I am unskilled 
(iStwTTjy, a layman, with no professional 
knowledge of the thing under discussion) 
in speech, yet I am not in knowledge; 
nay in every respect I have made (that) 
plain in my relations with (et's) you — 
not " to you." If ev iravrl and ^v Trdaiv are 
both original (they may be duplicates) the 
first would be neut. and the second masc. 
— " among all men," (pavepcbaavres has . no- 
expressed object; it must mean either that 
he has made the knozcledge itself plain, or 
made plain the fact that he has knowledge, 
even if he is rude in speech. The reading 
adopted by A. V. (^apepcodevres (having been 
manifested), is also excellently attested, but 
perhaps suspicious owing to its simplicity; 
in this case, it is Paul who has made 
himself plain, intelligible, in all his rela- 
tions to the Corinthians. Eloquence is no 
proof of apostleship ; of infinitely more im- 
portance is knowledge, the knowledge of 
God, and this the apostle manifestly has. 



Paul's Reason for Refusal of Maintenance 
From the Corinthians (xi. 7-15). 

Paul claims to be no whit inferior to his 
" apostolic " opponents. If he has not the 
rhetorical skill they have, that is of no 
consequence : the thing that matters is 
knowledge, and that he has. But, his op- 
ponents retort, Paul can be no true apos- 
tle, however plausible his claims ; he has 
refused to accept maintenance from the 



196 



II COEINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XI 



7 Have I committed an offence in abas- 
ing myself that ye might be exalted, be- 
cause I have preached to you the gospel of 
God freely? 

8 I robbed other churches, taking wages 
of them, to do you service. 

9 And when I was present with you, 
and wanted, I was chargeable to no man : 
for that which was lacking to me the 



brethren which came from Macedonia sup- 
plied: and in all things I have kept myself 
from being burdensome unto you, and so 
will I keep myself. 

ID As the truth of Christ is in me, no 
man shall stop me of this boasting in the 
regions of Achaia. 

II Wherefore? because I love you not? 
God knoweth. 



Corinthians, and such a refusal, they ap- 
parently argued, would have been impos- 
sible to one who really possessed apos- 
tolic dignity. They cannot see into the 
noble soul of Paul; here, as everywhere, 
their tests are material and external, " ac- 
cording to the flesh." Paul himself had 
already argued (in i Cor. ix.), with great 
force, for the right of an apostle to be 
maintained by the churches which he saved; 
but, on occasion, he might show more true 
greatness by waiving this right. An apostle 
may claim this maintenance, said Paul; he 
must, said his opponents. It is their ma- 
licious misinterpretation of his conduct and 
attitude in this respect that Paul meets in 
this paragraph. 

7. Or did I commit a sin — he iron- 
ically asks — in humbling myself in order 
that YOU (v^iels) might be spiritually 
exalted, lifted up out of the degradation 
of your heathen ways into the blessedness 
of the gospel, in that I preached to you 
the gospel of God for nothing? In 
Taireivojv (abasing myself) perhaps we hear 
an echo of the actual charge made by 
his opponents, who may have frequently 
and in various connections applied the 
epithet rairetvos to him (cf. x. i) ; no apos- 
tle he, but a low, mean-spirited fellow, a 
coward. He demeaned himself in their 
eyes, and conclusively proved that he was 
no apostle, by preaching for nothing 
{bojpeav) ; the irony is heightened by the 
full and solemn phrase "the gospel of 
God." It is not the "other" false gospel 
about another Jesus that he preaches (ver. 
4). In suggesting that it was perhaps a 
sin to preach the gospel of the grace of 
God for nothing, Paul is using the lan- 
guage of bitter irony; cf. xii. 13, where 
the allusion is the same — "forgive me 
this wrong." Paul seems to have been 
more than usually hurt by their ungenerous 
construction of his generosity. The free 
grace of God is most eloquently proclaimed 
by the preacher who illustrates it in his 
own conduct. 

8. Paul had the right, as an apostle, to 
maintenance from the Corinthians. He had 
a reason, however, which he gives below 



(ver. 12) for not accepting anything from 
them. In part, he supported himself, while 
at Corinth, by working at his trade with 
his own hands (Acts xviii. 3), though he 
courteously refrains from thrusting this 
fact upon them; but for the rest, he re- 
ceived his support from other churches. 
OTHER churches I plundered, taking 
wages from them that I might min- 
ister unto YOU without recompense. 
There is a pointed contrast between 
the others and you (v/xuv) ; and the lan- 
guage is very vigorous ; the contribution 
from the other churches — the Philippian, 
for example, which seems to have been 
particularly generous (Phil. iv. 15 f.) as 
the Alacedonian churches generally were 
(2 Cor. viii. 2) — Paul characterizes as 
robbery (the motive of which was the 
service of you), though from another point 
of view it is simply his wages (for 6\pu)VLov 
cf. I Cor. ix. 7). In Corinth, as the se- 
quel showed, the most scrupulous care 
must be taken to give no offense, and Paul 
would be the less exposed to reproach, if 
he accepted nothing from the Corinthians 
for his evangelical services. 

9-1 1. Whatever Paul took from other 
churches, he never once made himself a 
burden to the Corinthians. And when I 
at any time felt want {varep-ndels aor.. not 
" zvas in want") during my stay {irapuiv 
pres. ptc.) among you I never made my- 
self a benumbing burden to anybody. 
KaravapKoJ (from vapKr]^ stift'ness, torpor), 
" to lie like a stiff weight on," is said by 
Jerome to be a Cilician word. For the 
brethren — probably Silas and Timothy, 
who had stayed at Beroea (Acts xvii. 14) 
and afterwards rejoined Paul at Corinth 
(Acts xviii. 5) — when they came from 
the poor, but generous (viii. 2) churches of 
Macedonia, brought a further (^rpos) 
supply for my want (iVrepTj/xa echoes 
vareprjOeis) . And, supplied as I thus was 
from other sources, in every respect I 
kept myself during my stay at Corinth 
from being a burden to you, and in the 
future I will (so) keep myself. The rea- 
son for this determined course Paul will 
soon state (ver. 12), but the fact itself 



Ch. XI] 



II COEINTHIANS. 



197 



12 But what I do, that I will do, that 
I may cut off occasion from them which 
desire occasion ; that wherein they glory, 
they may be found even as we. 

1.3 For such are false aDOstles, deceitful 
workers, transforming themselves into the 
apostles of Christ. 



14 And no marvel ; for Satan himself 
is transformed into an angel of light. 

15 Therefore it is no great thing if his 
ministers also be transformed as the min- 
isters of righteousness ; whose end shall be 
according to their works. 



is so important that he repeats it in a 
form that invests it almost with the sol- 
emnity of an oath. The truth of Christ 
is in me, and by this I do hereby most 
solemnly assert that, so far as I am con- 
cerned, this boast of mine that I preach 
gratuitously shall not be silenced (lit. 
shall not have [her mouth] stopped — 
Kavx'n<^i-^, boasting, being, as it were, per- 
sonified) in the regions of Achaea; his 
practice at Corinth would be his practice 
throughout the whole province (i. i). As 
the truth of Christ is in Paul, his state- 
ments are made with the full force of his 
Christian personality, and are inspired with 
an absolute obligation to sincerity and 
truthfulness (cf. i. 17 ff.). This solemn 
assertion shows how very earnest and de- 
termined was Paul's resolution to takenoth- 
ing from the Corinthians. The friendly 
disposed among them might well feel of- 
fended at this refusal to be helped by 
them, and ask Why? They might think 
such a policy argued lack of love for 
them. You ask, Is it because I do not 
love you? Certainly not; for God knows 
that I do love you. 

12. At last the real reason for Paul's 
refusal of support from the Corinthians 
is now given. Now what I do in keeping 
myself from being a burden to you (ver. 
9), I will also continue to do; for this rea- 
son, that I may cut off this particular 
(lit. the) occasion from those who desire 
an occasion of being found, in the mat- 
ter whereof they boast, on a level with 
US. This last sentence has been construed 
and interpreted in a multitude of ways, but 
the simplest seems to be this. The second 
tJ'ci is not co-ordinate with the first ; it 
does not therefore express the motive for 
the action of the principal clause — "This 
I will continue to do in order that they 
may be found even as we " — that is, that 
Paul's opponents may be reduced to the 
moral necessity of preaching for nothing; 
there was little Hkeiihood of that. Rather 
is the second '»'« dependent on the three 
words preceding and explanatory of them, 
expressing what the opponents desired. 
Their desire was that, " in the matter of 
which they boasted," that is, the apostle- 
ship, they should be on terms of equality 



with Paul. But they accepted support, 
while Paul did not ; though it pleased them 
to construe this as an admission that Paul 
was no true apostle, the obvious unselfish- 
ness of Paul's policy was, to candid men, 
a sufficient refutation of their argument. 
Paul therefore in this respect had a distinct 
advantage over them, and he was deter- 
mined to retain it. The apostolic equality 
with him to which they aspired he rendered 
impossible, by adopting an unselfish policy 
which their avarice would not let them 
imitate. 

13-15. For such men, men of this sel- 
fish and unscrupulous character, are — not 
"pre-eminent apostles," as their followers 
claim, but — FALSE apostles, traitors to 
the idea of the apostleship and of the gos- 
pel, _ crafty workers, busy indeed, but in 
pulling down, not in building up (x. S^ and 
serving their own interests and prejudices 
when they claim to be serving the gospel, 
all the time (pres. ptc.) transforming 
themselves into apostles of Christ. They 
were no apostles of His, they were really 
servants of Satan ; but so skilfully did they 
disguise themselves that they looked like 
apostles. And no wonder, for Satan Him- 
self, whose realm is darkness, transforms 
himself into an angel of light. God 
and the angels dwell in light and their na- 
ture is fight (cf. Acts xii. 7). The refer- 
ence must be to some apocalyptic tale, as 
there is no Old Testament story which 
alludes to the transformation of Satan into 
an angel of light ; neither Job i. 6 nor i 
Kings xxii. 19-23 implies this. It is noth- 
ing remarkable, then, seeing he is such a 
master in the art of transformation, if 
his servants also transform themselves 
and become as servants of righteousness. 
Righteousness may be here used in the 
large ethical and religious sense ; it is the 
cause of righteousness, of light, of God, 
of Christ, that they pretend to serve; in 
reality, it is the cause of unrighteousness, 
of darkness, of Satan, of themselves, that 
they serve. Possibly, however, righteous- 
ness here is tinged with the technical sense 
which it so often has in Paul, the right- 
eousness of God (Rom. i. 17). Those 
who are ministers of that righteousness are 
the true evangelists. These men are the 



198 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XI 



i6 I say again, Let no man think me a 
fool ; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, 
that I may boast myself a little. 



17 That which I speak, I speak it not 
after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in 
this confidence of boasting. 



false, whose end shall be in accordance 
with their works. Their fate will be de- 
termined by their conduct. They are guilty 
of the deepest sort of lie — the transforma- 
tion of moral values (Isaiah v. 20, Mark 
iii. 22) — and their punishment will be as 
terrible as their sin. 

The strong words at the end of the 
paragraph, in which Paul anticipates for 
his opponents a terrible end, show how 
deeply he has been exasperated by their 
tactics. He loved the Corinthian church, 
it was he who had espoused her to Christ ; 
and these Judaizers were doing everything 
in their power to pervert the church by 
the proclamation of another Jesus and an- 
other gospel, and to discredit the authority 
of the man who had founded that church. 
They cannot appreciate his lofty motives in 
refusing the support which he could justly 
claim, and they even turn his unselfishness 
into an argument against his apostleship. 

Little wonder, considering the interests 
at stake, that Paul saw in those self styled 
" apostles of Christ " the ministers of Satan, 
the representatives of the prince of dark- 
ness, cunningly disguised as angels of 
light. Bousset raises the interesting ques- 
tion whether Paul's strong language and 
attitude were altogether justified. "Per- 
haps we ought to think of his opponents 
as narrow no doubt, but at the same time 
as convinced of the justice of their view. 
The means which these petty spirits 
adopted to combat the apostle were cer- 
tainly odious and ugly. But Paul's own 
manner of conducting the contest is sim- 
ilarly marked by no small passion. On 
the other hand we must in justice con- 
cede that he had reason for his anger 
and that his vigor in the heat of the great 
contest was only too intelligible. Paul is 
no saint, just as little as Luther." Cer- 
tainly Paul, as we have seen in ch. x. had 
much to provoke him. He had done the 
hard work, and they had stepped in to ap- 
propriate the fruits of his labor. But it 
is not for such personal reasons that Paul 
here calls them ministers of Satan ; it is 
because their work is a menace to the 
purity, and even to the existence, of the 
gospel. They have no insight into the 
mind and conduct of an apostolic man 
like Paul (ver. 7 ff.) still less into the 
mind of Christ. The emphasis which they 
laid upon externals (cf. ver. 22) was al- 



together alien to the genius of the gospel 
of Jesus. Their Jesus is "another" 
Jesus, their gospel and their spirit are dif- 
ferent. It is this that explains and to 
some extent justifies the vigorous lan- 
guage in which Paul describes them and 
their fate. 

The Apostle's Boast (xi. 16-33). 

The apostle recoils from the necessity 
(xii. 11) which has been thrust upon him 
by his opponents, of defending his claims to 
be an apostle. It involves boasting, and 
this Paul naturally shrinks from. It is 
folly (vv. I, 17), it is ov Kara Kvpt-ov, not in 
the spirit of the Lord (ver. 17) ; but he 
has been driven to it by the challenge and 
insinuations of his rivals, and in this sec- 
tion, after a little ironical fore-play (vv. 
16-21) he girds himself deliberately to the 
task, and in an impetuous passage of great 
eloquence, he brings before us some of the 
more thrilling incidents of his perilous and 
crowded life, and vindicates triumphantly 
his claim to the apostleship by pointing 
to the things that he has suffered for the 
gospel's sake (cf. vi. 4-10; i Cor. iv. 9- 
13). 

16-17. Again I say, as I said (im- 
plicitly) before (in ver. i), let no one 
think that I am a fool. Paul is well 
aware of the unseemliness and the folly 
of boasting ; but he is on his defense, and 
he must state his case whether they think 
him a fool or not. In any case, how- 
ever (et 5e jx-q ye, but if ye do )Wt grant 
my request to be regarded as a sane man), 
listen to me (lit. accept me. give me a 
welcome) even though it be as a fool, 
that I too as well as my opponents, to 
whom you give so cordial a welcome, may 
boast just a little bit {/j-iKpop n) . I am 
well aware that what I speak, I do not 
speak in accordance with the mind and 
s|)irit of the Lord, or under His direct 
inspiration; He was meek and lowly (Mat. 
xi. 29), and boasting was not His way. 
Paul is careful in his defence, to safe- 
guard by anticipation, the character of his 
Lord which might be compromised by the 
boasting of a disciple and an npt-ystlc It 
is not after the Lord, but as in foolishness 
(note how he rings the changes on this 
word half seriously, half ironically) that 
Paul speaks with (lit. in) this proud con- 
fidence of boasting, on which he is about 



Ch. XI] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



199 



i8 Seeing that many glory after the 
flesh, I will glory also. 

19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye 
yourselves are wise. 

20 For ye suffer, if a man bring you 
into bondage, if a man devour you, if a 
man take of you, if a man exalt himself, 
if a man smite you on the face. 

21 I speak as concerning reproach, as 
though we had been weak. Howbeit, 



whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak fool- 
ishly,) I am bold also. 

22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are 
they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed 
of Abraham ? so am I. 

2^ Are they ministers of Christ? (I 
speak as a fool,) I am more; in labours 
more abundant, in stripes above measure, 
in prisons more -frequent, in deaths oft. 



to launch. The last clause goes with the 
whole sentence : in this boasting, it is not 
as an inspired man, but as a fool that he 
speaks. Some render viroaTaaei here (cf. 
ix. 4), "in this matter, subject, of boast- 
ing," — not impossible, but less forcible and 
appropriate here. 

18-20. Seeing that many — he means 
more particularly his opponents, the false 
teachers, who were "many" (ii. 17) — 
boast after the flesh, of external things, 
such as their Jewish descent (ver. 22), 
their connection with the Jerusalem church 
or its leaders, with Christ, etc., I also 
will glory; he does not say, but the se- 
quel (ver. 22) shows that he partly means 
after the iiesh. Even in regard to the ex- 
ternal things of which they make so much, 
Paul is " not a whit inferior " to them 
(ver. 5). And he goes on with biting sar- 
casm to say that he can surely count upon 
a patient hearing from them, for their 
practice shows that they hsten to fools 
with pleasure. For ye put up {avixeaOe 
an echo of ver. i, where he hopes that 
they will put up with him and his folly) 
gladly with fools — the next verse shows 
that by the foolish {rdiv d(pp6vwv) he means 
his opponents — being wise men (your- 
selves) ; a most ironical addition — the 
wise Corinthians may well show their wis- 
dom by tolerating a little folly. There is 
an effective word play in the Greek, the 
two contrasted words a.(t)p6vwv (ppoptfiot be- 
ing juxtaposed — sensible and senseless. 
The argument is : if they tolerate fools, 
they are bound to tolerate him, for he too 
is a fool (his boasting makes him such). 
The next verse is a severe description of 
the conduct of his Judaistic opponents in 
their dealings with the church. The al- 
lusion is obvious, but skilfully expressed 
by the indefinite et ris (if any one). For 
you put up with any one who lords it 
over you, as I was falsely said to do (i. 
24) and who reduces you (cf. Ep. to Gal.) 
to the bondage of legalism (these men 
turned the Corinthians into slaves, Paul 
made himself their slave, iv. 5), who de- 
vours you by demanding heavy contribu- 



tions (as Paul refused to do) for his sup- 
port, who catches you cunningly (cf. ver. 
13, as men catch fish — same verb iXd^ofiev 
in Luke v. 5) and thus gets you into his 
power, who lifts himself up proudly and 
insolently, who smites you in the face. 
A blow on the face was one of the greatest 
of insults (Mat. v. 39, Acts xxiii. 2). It 
seems almost incredible that such an act 
should have been possible within the 
church, but the impression made by the 
passage is confirmed by i Tim. iii. 3, Tit. 
i. 7 where it is laid down that the bishop 
must not be a " striker." 

21. The irony of this whole section 
(16-21) is very striking, and nowhere 
more than here. To (my) shame Tlit. 
"by way of dishonor") I admit that (lit. 
" I say how that ") WE (rf^e's) were too 
weak to indulge in vigorous measures like 
these. He had been called a weakling (x. 
10), he ironically admits the charge, he at 
any rate is too feeble to treat the church 
as his opponents treat it. But all the 
same he has a courage of his own; which 
he is not afraid to match with theirs; in 
whatever matter any one is bold (of 
course — he ironically adds — it is in folly 
that I speak, for the speech he is about 
to make is a boast) I too am bold. 

22. After this preliminary ironical 
movement, in which Paul has raised our 
expectations to the highest as to what 
the contents of his "bold" boast will be, 
he begins the statement of it in brief 
and weighty sentences which, at the very 
outset, demolish the claims of his oppo- 
nents to pre-eminence even in the external 
matters on which they laid so much stress. 
Are they Hebrews? (more vivid than 
they are Hebrezcs) so am I. Are they 
Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed 
of Abraham? so am I. He could claim 
Jewish descent as well as they. Hebrews is 
the national name, Israelites, their sacred 
name — as the people of God; as Abra- 
ham's seed, the highest term of all, they 
are heirs (Gal. iii. 29) of the promises 
(Gen. xii. 1-3). 

23. These matters, important as they 



200 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XI 



24 Of the Jews five times received I 
forty stripes save one. 

25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once 
■was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, 
a night and a day I have been in the deep ; 

26 In joiirneyings often, in perils of 
Avaters, in perils of robbers, in perils by 



mine ozvn countrymen, in perils by the 
heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in 
the wilderness, /;/ perils in the sea, in perils 
among false brethren; 

27 In weariness and painfulness, in 
watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in 
fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 



seemed to his opponents, were of little 
consequence to Paul, and he dismisses 
them very curtly with a nayu) (I too). 
But when he presents his claim to be a 
minister of Christ, his style at once ex- 
pands. Are they ministers of Christ? 
Here he is not content with a bare So am 
I. He had already called them ministers 
of Satan (ver. 15); and if they, even on 
their own showing, have any claim to be 
considered ministers ■ of Christ, he has 
more. But before he says this and thus 
launches himself upon an account of his 
career, he interpolates, I speak in mad- 
ness. Perhaps this, like the other refer- 
ences to his " folly " in boasting, is largely 
ironical ; but it is possible to suppose that 
it is meant much more seriously. The 
words "minister of Christ" have a steady- 
ing and solemnizing effect, and Paul feels 
that it is not only " not according to the 
Lord" (ver. 17) but sheer madness, to be 
boasting (though he is driven to it) about 
matters so sacred. I have a MORE abun- 
dant claim than they to be considered a 
minister of Christ ; for consider what I 
have suffered for His sake. 

In labors more abundantly than they 
(cf. I Cor. XV. 10). li -KepLcaoTepm be 
pressed in its comparative meaning, Paul 
begins by contrasting himself with his op- 
ponents — his labors are more abundant 
than theirs. Already in the third clause, 
however, he loses sight of them 
(vweplSaWovTcos, exceedingly), and from 
that point on, confines himself to his own 
career. It is just possible, therefore, that 
irepL(T(70T€pm has the force of a superlative 
(very abundantly). The following recital 
shows us how little we really know of 
Paul's missionary experiences from the 
book of Acts. In prisons, as at Philippi 
(Acts xvi. 23 f.) more abundantly, in 
stripes (explained in next verse) above 
measure, in the jaws of death often, 
" delivered evermore to death for Jesus' 
sake" iv. 11, in peril of death at Damas- 
cus at the outset of his Christian career 
(Acts ix. 23 f.), stoned almost to death at 
Lystra (Acts xiv. 19), in some deadly peril 
in " Asia " (2 Cor. i. 8). 

24, 25. The general words of ver. 23 
are now illustrated by concrete detail. 
From the Jews I five times received 



the punishment (inflicted with a leather 
scourge, so severe that the victim some- 
times died under it) of forty stripes, save 
the one which later practice remitted, lest 
by chance the limit of forty prescribed by 
law should be exceeded (Deut. xxv. 3). 
Three times I was beaten by Roman 
officials with rods, as at Philippi (Acts 
xvi. 22) : once I was stoned, at Lystra 
(Acts xiv. 19), three times I was ship- 
wrecked, none of these occasions being 
recorded in the book of Acts, as his ship- 
wreck on the voyage to Rome (ch. xxvii.) 
occurred later, a full night and day of 
twenty-four hours I spent in the deep, 
probably on the plank of a ship which 
had been wrecked, as in Acts xxvii. 44, 

26, 27. His missionary journeys were 
many, and by land, as by sea (ver. 25) 
often accompanied with great peril, from 
swollen rivers, brigands, etc. In journey- 
ings often, in perils from turbulent 
rivers, treacherous to ford or swim; in 
perils from brigands who infested the 
country roads of Asia Minor, and waylaid 
travelers. Alen were as cruel as nature ; 
Paul was in perils from his Jewish kins- 
men, as at Damascus (Acts ix. 2t,) , Jeru- 
salem (Acts ix. 29) etc.; in perils from 
the Gentiles, as at Philippi (Acts xvi. 
20), Ephesus (Acts xix. 31) ; in perils in 
the city, as at Damascus (Acts ix. 23), 
Jerusalem (Acts ix. 29). Ephesus (Acts 
xix. 31) ; in perils in the wilderness per- 
haps of Arabia (Gal. i. 17). but probably 
also elsewhere : in perils in the sea already 
graphically illustrated (ver. 25) ; in perils 
among false brethren, more terrible than 
the perils of the sea. Gal. ii. 4 illustrates 
this point, though Paul's Jewish rivals at 
Corinth were illustration enough, and in 
the word he probably takes a side glance 
at them. In labour (ver. 23) and toil — 
Paul's work was hard and wearying — in 
many a wakeful night, whether kept 
awake by fatigue, by manual (2 Thes. iii. 
8) or missionary work (Acts xx. 7) ; in 
hunger and thirst, in fastings (apparently, 
in such a context, not deliberate but in- 
voluntary) often, in cold and nakedness 
or scanty attire, as perhaps after ship- 
wreck. 

28, 29. But there was more than physical 
peril and pain. Even more than the phys- 



Ch. XI] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



201 



28 Beside those things that are without, 
that which cometh upon me daily, the care 
of all the churches. 

29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? 
who is offended, and I burn not?_ 

30 If I must needs glory, I will glory 
of the things which concern mine infirm- 
ities. 

31 The God and Father of our Lord 



Jesus Christ, which is blessed for ever- 
more, knoweth that I lie not. 

32 In Damascus the governor under 
Aretas the king kept the city of the Da- 
mascenes with a garrison, desirous to ap- 
prehend me : 

33 And through a window in a basket 
was I let down by the wall, and escaped 
his hands. 



ical strain was the spiritual one involved 
in his unceasing interest in the churches 
he had founded. Besides the things out- 
side this description (or the things which 
I omit) is the thing that presses upon 
me daily, my anxiety for ALL the 
churches. The anxiety (/j^epLfiva) Paul had 
for the churches was as real and intense 
as that which the ordinary man has about 
food and clothing (Mat. vi. 31 /j.eptfj.vria7]T€) , 
Both the reading and ^ the meaning of 
ciriaTaais are doubtful. ewiavaTaais is also 
read, which might mean, "the daily com- 
bination against me." e-rriaTaais may mean 
care, and be parallel to " anxiety " ; but it 
is perhaps better to take it in its primary 
etymological meaning, and regard it as 
more closely defined by the following 
{jiipLfiva : " the daily pressure upon me, 
namely, the anxiety for all the churches." 
This anxiety is illustrated by ver. 29. 
Who is weak in faith or courage, and I 
am not weak in sympathy with him? 
Paul became all things to all men, for the 
gospel's sake, therefore " weak to the 
weak" (i Cor. ix. 22). He was not, for 
example, contemptuous, but considerate of 
the scrupulous brother who could not eat 
meat that had been offered to idols (i 
Cor. viii.). Who is made to stumble, 
and I do not burn with indignant, sym- 
pathetic pain? When a Christian brother 
is snared by sin, the apostle's heart glows 
with the pain and shame of it. 

30, 31. Verse 30, with its repetition of 
the word " weakness " from ver. 29, hap- 
pily mediates the transition between the 
preceding verses and those which conclude 
the chapter. Indeed it is possible, but not 
necessary, to begin, as some do, a new sec- 
tion here, ending it at xii. 9 or 10. Paul 
is still substantiating his " boast " by re- 
cording his experience, though the last in- 
cident of the chapter, that of his escape 
from Damascus, acquires a certain inde- 
pendent importance from the solemn intro- 
ductory asseveration of ver. 31. So diffi- 
cult have some scholars found it to regard 
this preface as belonging only to the inci- 
dent described in vv. 32, 33, that they have 
taken it as the introduction to the account 



of Paul's ecstatic vision in ch. xii. and re- 
garded xi. 32 f. as inserted perhaps by way 
of afterthought. But this incident may 
have had for Paul a significance which it 
cannot have for us, who are ignorant of 
the circumstances, and the difficulty is not 
insuperable of regarding the solemn appeal 
in ver. 31 as prefacing the narrative in 
vv. 32, 33. 

If boasting is necessary, I will boast 
of the things that belong to my weak- 
ness, as illustrated alike by the incidents 
he has narrated and that which he is about 
to narrate. It was not in his own strength 
that he had surmounted all those deadly 
perils, it was the "grace of God" (i Cor. 
XV. 10) that made him the victor that he 
was. The God and Father (not " God 
and the Father ") of the Lord Jesus 
knows, He who IS (0 Sov) blessed for 
ever, that I am not lying. This very 
solemn appeal to the God who knozvs (cl 
ver. 11) comes at this point with the effect 
of a surprise; but the incident which it is 
designed to corroborate had no doubt its 
peculiar significance for Paul. His expe- 
rience at Damascus was his initiation into 
the sufferings of his apostleship. The ap- 
peal to the Father of Jesus is very relevant 
here, as it was for Jesus' sake that he en- 
countered the danger he is about to relate 
(cf. iv. it). 

32, _ 33. In Damascus, which perhaps 
for diplomatic reasons had been ceded by 
the Romans to Aretas, the governor un- 
der Aretas IV the king of the Nabatasan 
Arabs, kept guarding the city of the 
Damascenes (the last word is superfluous), 
no doubt at the gates, to seize me, and 
through a window of a house on the 
wall I was let down in a basket (of 
wicker work?) by the wall, and escaped 
his hands. This probably occurred about 
37 A.D. on Paul's return to Damascus 
after his sojourn in Arabia, and conse- 
quently about three years subsequent to his 
conversion (Gal. i. 17!). The incident is 
referred to in Acts ix. 23-25 where, how- 
ever, it is the Jews who seek Paul's^ life. 
Probably Aretas was acting on the insti- 
gation of the Jews who were numerous and 



202 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XII 



CHAPTER 12. 
I It is not expedient for me doubtless 



to glory. I will come to visions and reve- 
lations of the Lord. 



powerful in Damascus. It is possible that 
Paul's flight on this occasion was inter- 
preted by his opponents as cowardice, and 
that the incident was used to make him 
ridiculous. But he himself is not ashamed 
of it. He glories in his weakness, and in 
his deliverance he sees the gracious hand 
of God. 



This brief, impetuous description which 
Paul gives of his life Stanley calls " one 
of the most valuable historical portions of 
the New Testament." It shows us how 
much more strenuous and terrible was the 
missionary life of Paul than even the book 
of Acts would lead us to suppose. It was 
crowded with peril and persecution, beset 
by the relentless forces of nature — her 
stormy seas and roaring rivers — and by 
the still more pitiless and venomous forces 
set ill motion by men — by bigoted Jews, 
stern Romans, unscrupulous brigands, and, 
worst of all, false brethren. He points to 
these experiences in vindication of his 
claim to be an apostle — to the things that 
he had suffered "for Jesus' sake" (iv. ii, 
xii. id). It takes more than rhetoric to 
make an apostle (ver, 6), it takes knowl- 
edge of the mind of Jesus, readiness and 
capacity to suffer for the gospel's sake. 

The picture he draws is one of almost 
superhuman heroism, and the boast, for 
which he had with such elaboration and 
skilful irony prepared the way, is more 
than justified. And the crown and climax 
of all this "pressure" which would have 
crushed the life out of any but a giant, 
was his anxiety for all the churches. As 
he faces the swollen floods, traverses the 
roads infested by robbers, and looks at 
death again and again upon the sea, he 
bears evermore on his mighty heart the 
thought of his weak and tempted brethren 
among the churches he had founded, and 
identifies himself with them. His anxiety 
for the churches does not swallow up his 
care for the individual members of whom 
those churches were composed ; nay, rather 
it is the individual Christian brother, in his 
struggles and falls, far more than the or- 
ganization, of which he thinks. If any one 
is weak, Paul feels and shares his weak- 
ness. 

Here then is the kernel of his defense. 
He has the welfare of all the churches upon 
his heart, he loves their individual members 



and deals with them in a spirit of the 
keenest and most intelligent sympatliy ; and 
finally, for their sakes, and for the sake of 
their common Lord, he is willing and glad 
to endure to the uttermost, to pursue a 
career that was beset by continuous perils, 
and that once and again brought him face 
to face with death. 



The Vision and the Thorn (xii. i-io). 

In this section, Paul continues his 
" boast ;" but here it takes the form of an 
unusually intimate disclosure, and it consti- 
tutes a splendid climax to the recital of the 
experiences by which he vindicates his 
claim to be an apostle. Just as his escape 
from Damascus (xi. 32 f.) may have ex- 
posed him to the charge of cowardice, so 
his " revelations " may have won for him 
the reputation of being a visionary of per- 
haps rather questionable sanity. Here in 
the most solemn and deliberate manner, he 
claims for them reality, and in particular 
recounts an overmastering experience which 
had befallen him fourteen years before, 
when he had been in Paradise itself, and 
had heard words unutterable. Intimately 
connected with this is the account of the 
thorn in his flesh, which had been sent as 
a spiritual discipline, to check the pride 
which the vision might have caused ; and 
this discipline was the occasion of a fresh 
manifestation oi the all-sufficient grace and 
power of Christ. He may surely then 
boast of the weakness (xi. 30, xii. 9) which 
led to such a display of divine power. It is 
but another form of " glorying in the Lord " 
(x. 17). 

I. The text of ver. i is exceedingly 
confused, but the two great types are repre- 
sented by A. V. {Kavxaadai 5r] ov ai'fx<f)ep€i 
/J.OC- e\ev(TO/xai yap) and A. R. V. {KavxaaOai 
5ei • ov avfjL(f)epov /xev, eXeiVo/ttat 5e'). The 
confusion between Sei and Srj is natural. 
The question is not, after all, one of great 
importance, as the meaning is, in either 
case, much the same : Paul is well aware 
of the general inexpediency of boasting, 
and regrets its necessity. A. R. V. empha- 
sizes rather the necessity, A. V. the regret. 
Considering that Paul has been driven to 
his boast in self-vindication (ver. 11), 
A. R. V. seems more probable, especially 
as not only the idea but even the phrase 
("boasting is necessary") has occurred 



Ch. XII] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



203 



2 I knew a man in Christ above four- 
teen years ago, (whether in the body, I 
cannot tell ; or Avhether out of the body, I 
cannot tell: God knoweth;) such a one 
caught up to the third heaven. 

3 And I knew such a man, (whether 



in the body, or out of the body, I cannot 
tell: God knoweth;) 

4 How that he was caught up into 
paradise, and heard unspeakable words, 
which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 



before (xi. 30). Whatever connection his 
opponents may have had with Christ, Paul 
is "no whit inferior" (xi. 5), he can claim 
to have had revelations from Him. Boast- 
ing is necessary: it is not indeed good 
{profitable, advantageous) either for me or 
for any one else — there is the danger of 
spiritual pride (ver. 7) ; but as my oppo- 
nents have coerced me into it (ver. 11), 

1 will proceed further and come to visions 
and revelations of {i.e. vouchsafed me 
by) the Lord. The revelations come 
through the visions. It is hardly probable 
that these visions and revelations were all 
comprised in the one great experience he 
is about to recount. The plural (cf. ver. 
7) more naturally suggests that they oc- 
curred more than once; and this is con- 
firmed by Acts xviii. 9 (vision). Gal. ii. 

2 (revelation). 

2. The story is told with a certain sol- 
emn and rhythmic repetition, and curiously 
enough, Paul speaks of himself in the third 
person, suggesting that his part in the mat- 
ter was purely passive. It was as if the 
man who enjoyed that unutterable expe- 
rience could not be himself, the Paul who 
was so acutely conscious of .his weakness. 
I know a man in Christ; what he is about 
to tell happened to him as a Christian. 
Had he not been in Christ, either it would 
not have happened, or at any rate it would 
not have taken the form it did. Bousset 
points out that, according to the Talmud, 
Paul's ecstatic experience was paralleled by 
the experience of some contemporary Jew- 
ish Rabbis. The idea of an ecstatic ascent to 
heaven he may well have shared with the 
Judaism in which he had been brought up, 
but this particular vision came to him as 
a Christian man; it was the Lord, i.e. Christ 
(ver. 9) whom he recognized as its source ; 
it came upon a Christian mind, and its con- 
tents were Christian. This happened four- 
teen years ago (43 A.D.?) and therefore 
is not to be connected with his conversion 
which had occurred about twenty years be- 
fore ; it was a never to be forgotten day. 
But Paul has no idea how it happened — 
whether in the body I do not know, or 
out of the body I do not know, God 
knoweth (cf. xi. 11, 31). Paul is so little 
himself (cf. the use of the third person) 
that he does not know whether he was 



caught up bodily into heaven, or whether 
his spirit had left the body, and he en- 
joyed this amazing experience, as it were, 
in a disembodied state; such a one — the 
man whom he knows — caught swiftly 
{apirayevra) up like Philip after his inter- 
view with the eunuch (Acts viii. 39, 
ripiraaev)^ like the child of the woman in 
Rev. xii. 5 {vpirdadr]) ^ and as those who 
are alive at Christ's coming will be caught, 
according to i Thes. iv. 17, as far as the 
third heaven. Jewish conceptions varied 
as to the number of the heavens ; some 
maintained two, others three, others seven. 
If we are to distinguish between the third 
heaven here, and Paradise in ver. 4, the 
idea implied by the passage is probably 
that there were three heavens, and Paradise 
beyond, ews, as far as, suggests the infinite 
spaces through which Paul seemed to 
traverse. 

3, 4. And I know such a man — 
whether in the body or out of the body 
I do not know, God knoweth. The 
rhythmic repetition has a solemn effect, 
as if the mind of Paul were dwelling on 
the mysterious scene with reverent remin- 
iscence; but possibly it is also intended as 
an introduction to the statement that he 
was caught up into Paradise, this being 
regarded not as the same but as another 
and higher experience. Paradise, origi- 
nally the hunting-park of a Persian king, 
then a pleasure garden, then the blissful 
abode of the righteous in Hades, where 
they await the resurrection ; here no doubt 
it is what is called in Rev. ii. 7 " the Para- 
dise of God," beyond the highest heaven. 
Some scholars regard Paradise in this 
ver. as synonymous with the third heaven 
in ver. 2. It is hard to say, but perhaps 
the second statement {caught up) is in- 
tended to suggest a second experience, 
similar but higher. He saw visions (ver. 
i) and heard words unutterable, which 
it is not lazi'fiil or possible for a MAN 
to put into language. What those words 
were we do not know, — perhaps, if we 
may judge by Jewish analogy, the praises 
of heavenly choirs (cf. Rev. xi. 15). In 
any case, the words which fell from celes- 
tial lips are unutterable by ^ mortals 
(dvOpwiro}) . They ring evermore in Paul's 
ears and in his heart ; but he must not 



204 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XII 



5 Of such a one will I glory, yet of 
myself I will not glory, but in mine in- 
firmities. 

6 For though I would desire to glory, I 
shall not be a fool ; for I will say the 
truth : but now I forbear, lest any man 
should think of me above that which he 



seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. 
7 And lest I should be exalted above 
measure through the abundance of the 
revelations, there was given to me a thorn 
in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to 
buffet me, lest I should be exalted above 



and he cannot translate them into human 
speech. 

5, 6. On behalf of such a one (tov 
ToiovTov masc, not neut. cf. tou tolovtov^ 
ver. 2) I will boast, because, strictly 
speaking, that " man," caught up to the 
blissful sights and sounds of Paradise, is 
not himself at all; but on my own behalf 
I will not boast, except in my weak- 
nesses. They are my own, and thev give 
divine grace its opportunity to manifest 
itself in me ; therefore, so far from being 
ashamed, I boast of them. Paul has 
already characterized his boasting as 
"folly" (xi. i). This, however, is only 
ironical ; he does not really wish any one 
to think that he is a fool (xi. i6), and 
the vision he has just related shows that 
he has ample ground for boasting, were 
he so inclined. For if I desire to boast, 
I should be no fool, for I should be 
speaking the truth; the unadorned truth, 
which Paul could speak if he would, fur- 
nishes opportunity enough. But he does 
not wish to thrust upon those whom he 
would convince evidence which it is be- 
yond their power to verify ; he leaves them 
to judge of him by the evidence of their 
eyes and ears. Therefore I forbear fur- 
ther boasting about visions, revelations, etc., 
lest some one should think of (eis, in 
regard to) me beyond what he sees me 
to be, or hears from me. There is a 
touch of irony about this perhaps ; the 
whole course of Paul's vindication, and, 
above all, the necessity for it, shows that 
there was little danger of him receiving 
more than his due from the Corinthians. 
But the principle is a sound and valuable 
one, that to convince men, we must not 
mystify them, but meet them with proof 
which they can understand and verify. 
What men see us to be, or hear out of 
our own lips (e| e/AoD), will after all be a 
pretty good indication of what we are. 

7. Westcott and Hort take the next 
words " and by the exceeding greatness of 
the revelations " with the preceding, and 
put a period after them. It must be con- 
fessed that the connection of the words 
with the rest of the sentence would then 
be neither obvious nor natural. The rea- 
son for taking the words thus arises from 



the difficultv. if not impossibility, of con- 
struing them naturally with the following 
sentence beginning, according to MSS. 
that are usually the best, with 5to Iva 
{"Wherefore, in order that"). Some 
MSS. however omit 5t6; then the reading 
is smooth (though this fact may possibly 
have led to its omission), and the sense 
good. And that I might not be over- 
exalted by the exceeding greatness of 
the revelations (this last clause being 
placed before i'j'ci for emphasis, exactly as 
in ii. 4, TTiv dydTTTjv 'iva yvwre) there was 
given to me by God, who watches over 
the interests of the spirit, and takes stern 
measures to rebuke spiritual pride, a thorn 
for the tormenting of the flesh, a mes- 
senger or angel (dyyeXos) of Satan, that 
it (or he) might buffet me not once 
(aorist) but continually (pres.) in order 
that I might not be overexalted, — a 
danger which the apostle must have very 
keenly felt, considering that he begins and 
ends his short sentence with the mention 
of it. (tk6\o\j/ is literally a stake, and Stan- 
ley sees in this a suggestion of the agony 
of impalement — "a. stake, as of impale- 
ment, on which I writhe like one crucified ;" 
but, as in Ezek. xxviii. 24 (tkoXoxJ/ is used 
to translate " brier," and is paralleled with 
aKavda, " thorn," the ordinary translation 
may be safely accepted. Innumerable 
guesses have been hazarded as to what 
this thorn was, but in the nature of the 
case, the truth can never be known. It is 
no doubt the same infirmity as Paul refers 
to in Gal. iv. 13-15, and there, as here, 
it is something that tries his Hcsh, his 
bodily nature. This fact renders, some 
explanations of the thorn impossible ; it 
cannot have been remorse of conscience for 
the past in which he persecuted the church 
(i Cor. XV. 9), nor temptation to blas- 
phemy or unbelief. Nor, though he has 
called his opponents ministers of Satan 
(xi. 15, cf. angel of Satan) can the thorn 
in the Hesh well refer to them. Applied to 
the risks to life and limb, incident to his 
missionary career (xi. 24-27) it is less in- 
appropriate, but very far from probable : 
Paul would hardly have begged for a re- 
mission of this kind of suffering, besides, 
the thorn must be something more specific 



Ch. XII] 



II CORINTHIANS. 



205 



8 For this thing I besought the Lord 
thrice, that it might depart from me. 

9 And he said unto me, My grace is 
sufficient for thee : for my strength is made 
perfect in weakness. Most gladly there- 
fore will I rather glory in my infirmities, 



that the power of Christ may rest upon 
me. 

^ 10 ^ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmi- 
ties, in reproaches, in necessities, in perse- 
cutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for 
when I am weak, then am I strong. 



than that. Catholic commentators have 
"been led by certain stories of monks to 
conjecture that it was the temptation to 
lust, a conjecture which may be summarily 
dismissed as altogether inapplicable to 
Paul. Doubtless we have to look for the 
thorn in some bodily ailment, which was 
apparent to the eye (Gal. iv. 14) and which 
was an impediment to Paul's activity. Dis- 
ease of the eyes (cf. Gal. iv. 15), earache, 
headache, nervous prostration consequent on 
malarial fever, or produced by his colossal 
exertions, etc. have been suggested ; but 
there is a large body of competent and 
quite reverent opinion inclined to the be- 
lief that the reference is to epileptic sei- 
zures. Paul compares the effect of this 
visitation of the angel of Satan to that 
■of a blow with the fist (KoXacpi^v : cf. i 
Cor. iv. II, Mat. xxvi. 67). "What," 
asks Bousset, " is the usual effect of such 
a blow? If it be violent, the person struck 
sinks to the ground. That then was a 
feature of Paul's infirmity, that he sud- 
denly sank to the ground as if smitten 
by an invisible stroke." It was as if some 
demoniac power, an angel of Satan, who 
sends infirmities upon mortals (Luke xiii. 
16, Job ii. 5), had struck him to the 
ground. The theory of epilepsy, though it 
lias much to recommend it, is not without 
difficulties. Professor Denney, who admits 
that " there is no religious interest in 
affirming or denying any physical explana- 
tion of the matter whatever," yet points 
out that " epileptic attacks, if they occur 
with any frequency at all, invariably cause 
mental deterioration," whereas the epistles 
are evidence that Paul's mind grew year 
after year in the apprehension of the Chris- 
tian revelation. Professor Findlay (Gala- 
tians, p. 66) even goes so far as to say : 
■*'To call him epileptic is a calumny. No 
man so diseased could have gone through 
the Apostle's labors, or written these epis- 
tles." Heinrici makes another important 
objection: "How the Galatians could ever 
liave brought themselves to welcome an 
•epileptic ' as an angel of God, as Christ 
Jesus' (Gal. iv. 14) is hard to understand, 
when we consider that in the ancient world 
the Jews regarded it as possession, the 
■Greeks and Romans as a special punish- 
meni of God." On a question for which 



the evidence is so meagre, dogmatism 
would be inappropriate. 

8, 9. However ignorant we may be of 
the nature of Paul's infirmity, we know 
at least its spiritual value. At first it 
seemed indeed to be an unqualified im- 
pediment to Paul's activity; so much so 
that for this {angel of Satan; masc. rather 
than neut., because of the words " depart 
from me") I besought the Lord, that is 
apparently Christ (ver. 9) not once or 
twice but three times, as no answer came 
the first time or the second, that he might 
depart from me, as Satan, his master, de- 
parted (same word dweaTT]) from Jesus 
after His temptation (Luke iv. 13). And 
at last He gave me His everlasting an- 
swer. The perfect here eip-^Kev appears to 
be suggestive ; " He spoke the word, and 
that word remains, and will remain for 
ever." " My grace is sufHcient for thee," 
eternally sufficient (pres. dpKel) , Thou 
dost need no more than my grace. " The 
Lord as it were put these words into Paul's 
mouth," says Bengel, "that following them 
up he might say : ' O Lord, Thy grace is 
sufficient for me.' " Paul prays to the Lord 
as to a living Person with whom he has 
intercourse (cf. ver. i) and is conscious of 
being answered by Him. How the answer 
came, he does not say, but the sequel shows 
that to Paul it was real. For strength 
is being perfected in weakness, it mani- 
fests itself most abundantly and amazingly, 
when it operates in the element of (if) 
weakness. The general form of the state- 
ment is superior to the specific form with 
f^ov (My strength; so A. V.), though the 
specific form is correct as an interpreta- 
tion. Paul was conscious that the strength 
in which he overcame was from above ; it 
was his weakness that gave it -its oppor- 
tunity to manifest and develop itself. 

9, ID. _ If weakness thus gives grace its 
opportunity, one may surely be well con- 
tent with his weakness. Rather, then, 
than pray to have the thorn removed, will 
I boast in my WEAKNESS (cf. xi. 30) 
in order that the POWER — practically 
the same as the grace — of Christ may 
tabernacle upon me, encompassing me. 
" The image is that of the Shechinah or 
(TK-nvri^ the glory which was the symbol of 
the Divine presence in the Holy of Holies, 



206 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XII 



descending upon the faithful, cf. John i. 14, 
Rev. vii. 15, xxi. 3." (Bernard). Where- 
fore, conscious as I am of having my 
weakness strengthened by Christ, I am 
well' content, for Christ's sake, with 
weaknesses, which he further particularizes 
— with insults, with the various hard- 
ships to which I am forced (dvdyKais) , 
with persecutions and the distresses with 
no seeming exit (cf. iv. 8) to which they 
reduce me. For when of myself I am 
weak, then I am strong in the imparted 
strength of Christ. 

The religious greatness of Paul is no- 
where more conspicuous than in this ac- 
count of his thorn in the flesh, marvelous 
alike in its candor, its depth, and its sim- 
plicity. Mark how he links it to the story 
of his beatific vision. Twice he says that 
the thorn, which is a " gift " of God 
(idodr])^ was sent to deliver him from the 
temptation to spiritual pride. One who has 
enjoyed such rapture is in peril, unless he 
receives continual buffeting (/co\a0i^77, 
pres.). He did not see his suffering at 
first in that light ; this interpretation only 
comes to him after his prayer has been 
answered by being refused. But it is an 
interpretation which shows how well Paul 
imderstood the subtle temptations to_ pride 
that are apt to accompany unique spiritual 
gifts and experiences. The vision needs the 
thorn. 

On the relation of the thorn to the vision 
Bousset has some suggestive remarks, 
though they rest on the assumption that 
Paul's infirmity was of an epileptic na- 
ture. " One cannot fail to recognise that 
what Paul here relates of his infirmity and 
what he has told before of his visions and 
revelations, have an inner connection with 
one another, which the apostle may have 
unconsciously felt, when he put them both 
together. We may then suppose that the 
entire visionary, ecstatic peculiarity of 
Paul, as it appears here and in other 
places, had its basis in large measure in 
his pathological disposition. We may even 
believe that Paul's visions and revelations 
were often immediately connected with the 
epileptic attacks. In these hours of his 
life — now he saw heavenly sights, and 
heard the praises of Paradise, and again 
he felt himself struck with the fist by 
the angel of Satan." Whether the con- 
nection between the vision and the thorn 
be so intimate or not, at any rate it is 
certain that by some chronic and distressing 
ailment Paul's activity was seriously ham- 
pered ; and both his missionary career and 



his religious serenity become all the more 
wonderful when we consider this physical 
handicap. He thought he could have done 
more for His Master, had the handicap 
been removed, and he prayed for its re- 
rnoval. " It might have seemed at the 
time to all," says Stanley {Corinthians p. 
569), "as it did on this occasion seem to 
Paul himself, that the cause of the Gospel 
would have been better served, had he 
been relieved from his infirmity and gone 
forth to preach and teach with unbroken 
vigor of body and mind, his bodily presence 
strong, his speech mighty and powerful. 
But history has answered the question 
otherwise, and has ratified the Divine an- 
swer, in which the Apostle acquiesced." 
It is nothing less than wonderful to see 
how, vexed with this sorrow and pain, 
whatever it was, he cheerfully endured the 
colossal hardships of which he has told us 
in the preceding chapter, and moved about 
the world, planting churches and preaching 
the gospel everywhere. If his infirmity 
was a fact — and we have his own intense 
and threefold prayer in evidence of that 
— the grace which tabernacled upon him 
must have been an infinitely greater fact ; 
for it made him not only content amid dis- 
tresses and persecutions manifold, but it 
made him strong to do perhaps the might- 
iest and most far-reaching work for God 
that mortal man has ever done. 

An interesting question is raised by this 
passage touching prayer to Christ. The 
Lord, whom Paul entreated for the re- 
moval of the thorn, might well be God ; 
but the context seems to be decisive in 
favor of Christ. " ]\Iy grace is sufficient 
for thee ; for power is made perfect in 
weakness." That is the answer to the 
prayer. Paul goes on : " Most gladly 
therefore will I rather glory in my weak- 
nesses, that the poiver of^ Christ may rest 
upon me." It is impossible not to hear 
in these words an echo of the answer ; in 
that case, the answer must have come from 
Christ, and the prayer been directed to 
Christ. 

The threefold prayer of Paul for the 
removal of the thorn naturally recalls the 
threefold prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane 
for the removal of the cup (Mat. xxvi. 
44). ''It is of the profoundest religious 
interest and importance to note that, in 
the ordinary sense, neither of these prayers 
was answered. The cup had to be drained 
to the dregs — " My God, why hast Thon 
forsaken me?" — and the thorn was not 
removed. Rut* it is of equal interest and 
importance to note that, in the profoundest 



Ch. XII] 



II COEINTHIANS. 



207 



11 I am become a fool in glorying; ye 
have compelled me : for I ought to have 
been commended of you : for , in nothing 
am I behind the very chiefest apostles, 
though I be nothing. 

12 Truly the signs of an apostle were 
v^TOught among you in all patience, in 
signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. 

13 For what is it wherein ye were in- 
ferior to other churches, except it be that 



I myself was not burdensome to you ? for- 
give me this wrong. 

14 Behold, the third time I am ready 
to come to you ; and I will not be burden- 
some to 3^ou ; for I seek not yours, but 
you ; for the children ought not to lay up 
"for the parents, but the parents for the 
children. 

15 And I will very gladly spend and be 
spent for you; though the more abundantly 
I love you, the less I be loved. 



sense, those prayers were both answered. 
The will of God was done. With fine 
insight, the author of the Epistle to the 
Hebrews remarks that Jesus ' in the days 
of His flesh, having offered up prayers 
and supplications with strong crying and 
tears unto Him that was able to save 
Him from death, was heard for His godly 
fear;' and Paul was so strengthened by 
the grace of Christ that he actually learned 
to glory in his weakness, because in it. he 
was conscious that the power of Christ 
rested upon him." (See my Prayers of 
the Bible, p. loi). 



The Signs of an Apostle (xii. 11-13). 

11-12. Paul's elaborate vindication of 
his apostolic authority is drawing to a 
close. He deeply regrets its necessity. In 
spite of ver. 6, it is in reahty folly, to 
which no wise man would willingly stoop, 
but he has been driven to it. I HAVE be- 
come a fool (emphasis on the verb), but 
it is YOU (vfjiels) who have compelled 
me to it. For, instead of being forced, 
as I have been, to commend myself, I 
ought to have been commended without 
ceasing (a-wLcrTaadai.^ pres. inf., not aor.) 
by YOU. I have the best of reasons; for 
I was in no respect inferior to the pre- 
eminent apostles (the leaders among his 
Judaizing opponents, see xi. 5), though, as 
a matter of fact {ovbev not i^-nUv) I am 
nothing — it is only by the grace of God 
that I am what I am (i Cor. xv. pf.). 
The signs indeed of one worth}^ to be con- 
sidered an apostle were wrought — by 
himself, of course, but by the use of the 
passive voice he humbly allows his own 
personality to fall into the background — 
among you in all manner of steadfast 
endurance, despite fatigue and opposition, 
by miracles, which Paul here describes 
under three aspects, signs, as acts of spir- 
itual signiftcance, and wonders that can- 
not fail to arrest conventional eyes, and 
mighty works, literally powers, which are 



the manifestations of a higher power (ver. 
9) — " deeds of significance, deeds of won- 
der, deeds of power" (Massie). Accord- 
ing to I Cor. ix. I, 2, the conclusive sign 
of an apostle is his success : here, as in 
Rom. XV. 19 (cf. Acts xv. 12), Paul ap- 
peals to miracles as signs. What miracles 
he performed at Corinth we do not know ; 
but we may perhaps consider as typical of 
these, the healing of the lame man at Lystra 
(Acts xiv. 8-10; cf. xix. 11, xx. 7 f., xxviii. 
2)-6) . Patience, steadfastness, is not here 
itself a sign, but the element, the spiritual 
atmosphere in which the signs were 
wrought. 

13. For what is there in which you 
were slighted in comparison with (lit. 
" made inferior beyond ") the other 
churches unless (it be) that I in my 
own person (avrbs iyu)) did not lie like a 
benumbing weight upon you (KarevapK-qaa, 
word and thing same as in xi. 9) by 
throwing the weight of my maintenance 
upon you ? This distinction which he con- 
ferred upon the Corinthian church — a 
proof of his "more abundant love" (ver. 
15) — he sarcastically describes as an in- 
justice, for which, with bitter irony, he 
prays to be forgiven. Forgive me this 
injustice. 



Indignant Repudiation of the Suspicion of 
Fraudulent Dealing (xii. 14-18). 

14, 15. Paul has no more intention of 
burdening them with his support in the 
future than he has done in the past. 
See! — a vivid appeal — this is the third 
time that I am ready to come to you. 
The words very probably (cf. xiii. i), 
though of themselves not necessarily, imply 
not only that he is in readiness for the 
third time, but that he is coming for the 
third time — in other words, that he has 
been in Corinth twice already, and I will 
not be a burden to you, for it is not 
yours, but YOU, that I seek — not your 
money or your help, but your souls (ver. 



208 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XII 



i6 But be it so, I did not burden you : 
nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you 
with guile. 

17 Did I make a gain of you by any of 
them whom I sent unto you ? 

18 I desired Titus, and with him I sent 
a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you ? 



walked we not in the same spirit? walked 
zue not in the same steps? 

19 Again, think ye that we excuse our- 
selves unto you? we speak before God in 
Christ ; but zvc do all things, dearly be- 
loved, for your edifying. 



15), — your salvation (i Cor. ix. 22). The 
Corinthians were his " beloved children," 
and he, as their spiritual father (i Cor. iv. 
14, 15) will show to them the unselfish and 
solicitous regard that a father shows to 
his children, his duty and delight being 
rather to provide for them than to be 
provided for by them ; for the children 
ought not to lay up for the parents, — 
though this of course, is not meant to 
deny filial obligation — but the parents 
for the children. Paul, however, like the 
good father that he is, does more than 
lay up for his children ; he spends, and he 
spends himself utterly (e/c) for them and 
their spiritual welfare. And I for my 
part (^7^), so far from burdening you 
with my support, will most gladly spend 
all that I have, and be myself spent to 
the uttermost for your souls. The fol- 
lowing two clauses (reading dyaTrw^ / love) 
are best taken as an independent sentence 
(so A. R. v., Westcott and Hort), not 
(reading dyairuiu, loving) as a conditional 
sentence appended to the preceding (so in 
the main A. V.). The latter meaning 
would be, " If, loving you the more, I am 
loved the less, I will spend and be spent 
for your souls, that is, until the true rela- 
tionship between us is established." This 
seems stilted ; the meaning therefore prob- 
ably is simnlv ; if I love you the more, 
am I loved the less? — is this malice and 
ingratitude the return for the more abun- 
dant love I lavished upon you? 

16-18. Paul next deals with the un- 
worthy suspicion, which clearly had been 
voiced, that, though his own hands are 
clean, he has yet, through his agents, helped 
himself to the collection of which they had 
had charge. Granted (lit. "so be it), you 
say, that I did not personally (^7^^) 
weight you down with the burden of my 
support, but like the crafty man that I 
am (I'Trapx'^'') I caught you by cunning 
{craft and cunning — the very things he 
disclaims in iv. 2) — securing my ends 
through my agents. This base charge may 
be easily refuted by a simple appeal to fact. 
On any previous occasion — Paul had no 
doubt frequently had occasion to com- 
municate thus with the important and 
turbulent Corinth — did I take advantage 



of you (cf. vii. 2) by any of those whom 
I have sent (aTroo-reXXa; more solemn, or 
at least formal, than iriinru}^ ix. 3) to you. 
TLvo. is irregular; when Paul wrote it, he 
may have intended to follow it up with 
some other verb than eTrXeoveKTTja-a. I ex- 
horted Titus to go on such a mission, and, 
taking precautions similar to those de- 
scribed in viii. 18-22, sent along with 
him the brother, possibly the brother men- 
tioned in viii. 22, though the reference is 
of course to some previous mission — 
perhaps that from which Titus returned 
with his reassuring news of the Corin- 
thians (vii. 6ff.). Did Titus take any 
advantage of you? asks Paul indignantly. 
Surely not. _ And Titus was Paul's envoy, 
acting in his spirit. From Titus's policy 
they may infer Paul's. For did we not 

— he and I — walk in the same spirit? 

— primarily perhaps the holy spirit, to 
which any such " over-reaching " as is 
here suggested would be impossible; prac- 
tically the words mean, *' in the same 
spirit of noble self-denial, with the same 
freedom from avarice." And as their inner 
spirit was the same, so also was their out- 
ward conduct; they walked in the same 
steps — Titus but following in the foot- 
steps of Paul. 



The Apostle, Not the Apologist 
(xii. 19-21). 

19. This brief paragraph is intended to 
correct the impression which might very 
naturally arise in the minds of the Corin- 
thians that Paul, in his vindication of him- 
self (x. ff.) has been constituting them his 
judges, pleading, as it were, at their bar, 
and eager for their verdict. Nothing of 
the kind: God is his judge, and he is their 
apostle. You have been thinking (or 
with Westcott and Hort. have you been 
thinking f) for a long time (TrdXat better 
than ttclXlu of A. V. again) that it is to 
YOU that we are making our defence. 
Certainly not: you are not my judt:;es (i 
Cor. iv. 3). It is before God and in 
virtue of our fellowship with Christ that 
we speak (cf. ii. 17). And all those 
things that I have said, beloved, — the 



Ch. XII] 



II COKINTHIANS. 



209 



20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall 
not find you such as I would, and that I 
shall be found unto you such as ye would 
not : lest there be debates, envyings, 
wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, 
swellings, tumults : 



21 And lest, when I come again, my 
God will humble me among you, and that 
I shall bewail many which have sinned 
already, and have not repented of the un- 
cleanness and fornication and lascivious- 
ness which they have committed. 



tenderness flashes through the severity — 
are not in my own interests, and to secure 
a verdict of acquittal from you, but for 
your upbuilding. His vindication was 
not to defend himself, but to edify them ; 
it was for their edification that the Lord 
gave him his authority (x. 8). In general, 
edification, upbuilding, is the great law of 
-the church, determining the action of her 
officers, and regulating the conduct of her 
worship (i Cor. xiv. 5, I2, 17, 26). 

20.. These verses (20, 21) show how 
sorely the Corinthians needed edification, 
and how little competent they were to pass 
judgment upon such a man as Paul. As 
Professor Denney aptly says, " The Corin- 
thians had been seating themselves in im- 
agination on the tribunal, and they are 
summarily set on the floor." For I am 
afraid that, perchance, when I come, — 
it is now the apostle that speaks — I may 
find you not pure and peaceable, such as 
I would, and that I may be found by 
you (or less probably, " in your judgment ") 
not only such as / would not, but — more 
vigorously — such as YE would not, an 
administrator of discipline and chastisement 
(cf. X. 6, I Cor. iv. 21) ; that perchance 
(there may) be found (supply evpedJ^aiv) 
the spirit of strife and jealousy, cases of 
angry outbursts (plu.), faction or in- 
trigue such as hired servants {epidoi) 
might be guilty of, defamation of char- 
acter whether by open slander, or secret 
whispering, conceit, disorder. These are 
all tempers or acts symptomatic of the 
party spirit (i Cor. i. 10 f.) which was 
prejudicial to the peace and unity of the 
church, and insulting to God who was a 
God of order, not of confusion (i Cor. 
xiv. Z3)- 

21. But the character of the church 
was being imperilled by lust, no less than 
by discord, and this fear seems to lie even 
more heavily upon the heart of Paul than 
the other (there is no qualifying ttws after 
Af»7, "lest hy any means," as in the previous 
case) especially if we read with some 
MSS. though this is not necessary, 
raireivwaei (will humble) for TaireLvcbari 
(may). It is difficult to say whether the 
TrdXij' (again) goes with cane or may 



humble. It is no real objection to the 
former view that in the previous verse 
iXOibv stands alone, without TrdXtj' (simply 
having come) ; but probably the latter is 
the more correct, Paul fears another hu- 
miliation Hke that which he had experi- 
enced on his second visit ; but even in 
his humiliation he recognizes the guiding 
and the disciplining hand of God, who is 
therefore " my God." / am afraid that, 
when I come, my God may agrain, as 
before, humble me in my relations to 
(irpos) you, by showing me the scanty 
fruit of my work, and that I may have 
to mourn over many of those who shall 
not have repented of their former sins 
of sexual impurity, and, in particular, 
fornication, and riotous lasciviousness, 
which they have committed. Probably 
Alford is right in regarding ** many of 
those who have sinned " as a mild ex- 
pression for " the many who have sinned." 
Who are " those who are now in a condi- 
tion of having sinned (pf. ptc.) before? " 
Before what? Probably before their en- 
trance into the church. The sexual sins 
and practices which Paul here glances at 
so mournfuhy (loose unions, perhaps con- 
cubinage, and such sins as are represented 
by I Cor. v.) were probably carried over 
into the Christian church by many who 
entered it. This suspicion receives some 
confirmation from xiii. 2, where " those who 
had sinned before " appear to stand in a 
class by themselves. Paul, with his pas- 
toral heart, mourns over these sins and 
sinners, unlike the Corinthians. who 
showed their spiritual callousness by " not 
mourning" over them (i Cor. v. 2). It 
is significant that the sins which Paul 
is afraid he will find, when he comes to 
Corinth, are sins of faction and lust. 
These are the two most prominent types 
of sin in the first epistle, and they must 
have been very characteristic of volatile 
and immoral (Zorinth. If Paul had been 
willing to defend his reputation ajid au- 
thority before any earthh" tribunal, it was 
certainly not before men swayed by the 
spirit of partyism and social impurity. Men 
like these much needed all the " edification " 
that could be brought to bear upon them. 



210 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XIII 



CHAPTER 13. 

1 This is the third time I am coming 
to you. In the mouth of two or three wit- 
nesses shall every word be estabhshed. 

2 , 1 told you before, and foretell you, as 
if I were present, the second time ; and be- 
ing absent now I write to them which 
heretofore have sinned, and to all other, 
that, if I come again, I will not spare : 



3 . Smce ye seek a proof of Christ speak- 
mg in mc, which to you-ward it not weak, 
but is mighty in you. 

4 For though he was crucified through 
weakness, yet he liveth by the power of 
God. For we also are weak in him, but we 
shall live with him by the power of God 
toward you. 

5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in 
the faith; prove your own selves. Know 



The Final Appeal (xiii. i-io). 

The note of authority, which had been 
vigorously struck in the last paragraph, 
becomes even more prominent and vigor- 
ous in this. He now goes beyond the ex- 
pression of a fear that, when he came in 
person, they would find him not such as 
they wished : he says very definitely that 
he will not spare. His power will then 
be as obvious as his weakness had been. 
But, with his old tenderness, he soon passes 
from this to the expression of a prayer 
that their conduct will be so good and 
, seemly that he will have no occasion to 
exercise his authority. 

I, 2. This is the third time that I am 
coming to you (cf. xii. 14). This sen- 
tence, and the most natural interpretation 
of ver. 2, apart from other considerations, 
put it beyond all reasonable doubt that 
Paul had already been twice in Corinth. 
At the mouth of two or (lit. and) three 
witnesses shall every word be estab- 
lished. It is difficult to decide whether 
Paul, in thus citing Deuteronomy xix. 15, 
is playfully regarding his visits as the 
witnesses — the next, which was the third, 
being decisive — or whether he is seriously 
and solemnly asserting that the next time 
he comes, the whole situation will be im- 
partially investigated and the truth estab- 
lished, at a formal trial. Perhaps, stern 
as the context is, the former is more in 
the manner of Paul. To those — the 
class already alluded to by the same word 
in xii. 21 — who are living in their old 
sins, and to all the rest who look for- 
ward to my visit with a bad conscience, 
I have already said beforehand {i.e. 
forewarned) (in x. 6) and do now say 
beforehand (forewarn), as on my sec- 
ond visit, (so) now also in my absence, 
when I can only conununicatc by letter, 
that, if I come again, I will not spare 
(as he had spared before, in not coming, 
i. 23). What precisely this threat im- 
plies, is not quite certain — whether simply 
the stern exercise of spiritual authority, 
or some signal and miraculous punishment 



such as fell upon Elymas (Acts xiii. 11, 
cf. I Cor. V. 5). Probably the two things 
w-ould not be quite distinct in the mind 
of Paul ; " wonders " were among the 
signs of an apostle (xii. 12). 

3, 4- It is the scepticism of the Corin- 
thians that drives Paul to this stern exer- 
cise of his authority; it is necessary, in 
order to convince them that Christ is 
speaking in him. I will not spare, see- 
ing that you are seeking a proof of the 
Christ that speaks in me — the Christ 
who in relation to you, as you will find 
when I come, is not weak but powerful 
among you. Paul's words and acts will 
be so authoritative as to carry the con- 
viction that Christ is speaking and work- 
ing in and through him. Paul is indeed 
one ^yith Christ, alike in his weakness and 
in his power. The weakness evidenced 
most terribly by the crucifixion, and the 
power manifested by the resurrection, have 
repeated themselves in the experience of 
Paul. As Jesus had been crucified, so he 
had been humbled (xii. 21) ; and as surely 
as Jesus had been raised to an endless 
{^V, He fe'r^) triumphant life, so surely 
would he live, inspired by the same pozve'r 
of God, and show the life that was in him 
by the authority he would wield. This is 
a passage that happily illustrates Paul's 
mysticism; he is conscious of sharing the 
weakiicss and the life of Christ. For He 
was indeed crucified through weakness 
(the weakness which issues in death Jesus 
shared with man; in a sense this was then 
the source, eK, of the crucifixion), but 
now He lives through (e/i. source) the 
power of God who raised Him from the 
dead (Gal. i. i). For we also, as is 
shown by our humiliating experiences 
(xii. 21, 0) are weak in (some MSS. read 
7cith) Him the crucified One. but with 
Him, the risen (^ne, we shall, by the 
same power of God that raised Him. live 
and exhibit vigorous tokens of life and 
power in relation to you. 

5, 6. The man who could write the 
last two verses is very conscious that he 
is in the faith, can offer proof (Som/*^, ver. 



Ch. XIII] 



II COKINTHIANS. 



211 



ye not your own selves, how that Jesus 
Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates ? 

6 But I trust that ye shall know that we 
are not reprobates. 

7 Now I pray to God that ye do no 
evil; not that we should appear approved, 
but that ye should do that which is honest, 
though we be as reprobates. 

8 For we can do nothing against the 
truth, but for the truth. 



9 For we are glad, when we are weak, 
and ye are strong : and this also we wish, 
even your perfection. 

10 Therefore I write these things be- 
ing absent, lest being present I should use 
sharpness, according to the power which 
the Lord hath given me to edification, and 
not to destruction. 



3) and stand the test. The Corinthians 
would do weh to turn their attention from 
him to themselves, and see whether they 
could stand the test. Throughout this 
■passage, changes are rung on doKLfirj 
(proof), doKi/j-d'^u: (to put to the proof), 
and ddoKifjios (having no proof, incapable 
of standing the test, reprobate) which it 
is unfortunately impossible to reproduce in 
English. Try YOURSELVES (not me) 
whether you are living in the faith which 
saves the soul. Faith is hardly here the 
"objective Christian creed (cf. i Cor. xvi. 
13)" but we can see from such a passage 
how the way was prepared for this use of 
the word. Put YOURSELVES to the 
proof. Or do you not know as to your- 
selves that Jesus Christ is in you? except 
indeed, he adds, you are reprobates, un- 
approved, have failed in the test. De- 
plorable though the situation is in many 
of its phases, they are, in some jeal sense, 
a Christian church. Christ is ^ present 
among them, and constitutes the ideal by 
which they must measure themselves. 
" They ought to recognize Christ as a 
power in themselves — unless indeed they, 
being counterfeit Christians, cannot recog- 
nize Him because He is not there" (j\Ias- 
sie). And if Christ is really in and among 
them, if they themselves are not reprobates, 
they ought to have no difficulty in recog- 
nizing that Paul is no reprobate ; I hope 
you will recognize that WE (^/^e's) are 
no reprobates. This may also be inter- 
preted in a threatening sense : " when I 
come, I will furnish you with proof enough 
of my apostolic authority. In the disci- 
pline that I will authoritatively enforce, 
you will see, I hope, plainly enough proof 
of the Christ that speaketh in me." 

7-10. But Paul (unlike Jonah cf. ch. 
iv.) is very much more concerned about 
their character than about his own reputa- 
tion. He would infinitely rather find them 
repentant and virtuous, when he comes, 
than indulging in the sins which will give 
him an opportunity to assert his authority ; 
he even prays for this, caring nothing what 



may come of his reputation for authority. 
Now we pray to God that you do no 
evil, not in order that WE (vfj^els) may 
in that case appear approved; it is true 
that their attainments in virtue would re- 
dound to the credit of Paul their teacher; 
that, however, is not his motive at all; but 
in order that YOU may act nobly, even 
though WE be as reprobates. The virtue 
of the Corinthians will react doubly on 
Paul, it will leave him both " approved " 
and " unapproved " ; approved — because, 
under God, they owe that virtue to him ; 
unapproved, because he is now deprived 
of his opportunity to prove his authority 
(ver. 3) by severe discipline of thera. But 
the latter motive does not weigh with Paul. 
For we cannot do anything against the 
truth, but we can only act in behalf of 
the truth. By the truth' Paul apparently 
means here " the gospel " ; and this sen- 
tence enunciates the principle which gov- 
erned all his action. He could do nothing 
prejudicial to the gospel, he could only 
do what would further its interests, and 
this he was prepared to do even when it 
meant the sacrifice of his reputation. Not 
only prepared, but delighted (xaipojue?/) : 
for we are glad when WE are weak, 
without opportunity to assert our authority, 
and YOU are so strong in Christian 
character that such an assertion of my 
authority becomes unnecessary. And this 
we not only rejoice over, but pray for 
also; — your ^restoration, amendment, per- 
fecting. This is why, in my absence, I 
write these things, especially the last 
stern passage beginning with xii. 20, in 
order that, when I am present, I may 
not have to deal with you abruptly, i.e. 
sharply, and so that I may act in accord- 
ance with the authority which the Lord 
gave me for building up and not for 
demolition (exactly as in x. 8). If Paul 
has to act sharply, it will be more like 
pulling down than building up, and so at 
least an apparent contravention of the 
spirit of that authority with which he was 
entrusted by Christ. 



212 



II CORINTHIANS. 



[Ch. XIII 



11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be per- 
fect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, 
live in peace; and the God of love and 
peace shall be with you. 

12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 



13 All the saints salute you. 

14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the communion 
of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. 
Amen. 



Parting Injunctions and Benediction 
(xiii. 11-13). 

II, 12. In the concluding verses, the 
severity passes into a certain solemn gen- 
tleness : finally, brethren, all the imper- 
atives in ver. 11 except the first, quietly 
glance at the weaknesses of the Corinthian 
church : therefore, probably the first 
(xai'pere) should not be rendered rejoice, 
but farewell, though a Greek would hardly 
forget the original meaning of the word ; 
perhaps fare ye well would produce a 
somewhat similar impression in Enghsh. 
Be perfected — Paul had just prayed for 
this (ver, 9) — be exhorted (rather than 
comforted, though this is not impossible, 
cf. i. 7), with perhaps special reference to 
the exhortations that immediately follow : 
be of the same mind, be at peace — the 
curse of the Corinthian church, as of an- 
cient Greek political life, was faction and 
strife (cf. i Cor. i. 10 1). And God, who 
is the God OF LOVE will be with you, 
when you are at unity with one another, 
and the God of PEACE will be with 
you, when you are at peace with one an- 
other. The peace and love of the Corin- 
thian church, as the letter shows, have 
been sadly imperilled, but salute one an- 
other with a holy kiss (i Cor. xvi. 20) 
which will seal your unity and love again. 



All the saints in Macedonia, from which 
Paul is writing, acknowledge your unity 
as a Christian church, and salute you. 

13. After all the strife, jealousy, and 
malice with which Paul has had to deal, 
especially towards the close of his letter, 
the full-toned benediction falls with won- 
derful force and beauty. It is through the 
grace of Jesus (cf. viii. 9) that Paul has 
learned of the love of God, and therefore 
the name of Jesus is significantly put first. 
This new life which came with Jesus is 
perpetuated in the church by the Spirit. 
If TTvev/xaros is a subjective genitive, like 
the other two, the fellowship or com- 
munion will be that which is produced 
among Christian men by the spirit ; but 
if it be objective, it will mean participa- 
tion in the holy spirit, and in His gracious 
gifts and operations. This benediction 
sweeps majestically from eternity to eter- 
nity. It contemplates the love of God 
rooted in the infinite past, realized in the 
historical Jesus, and perpetuating itself 
through all time by the spirit. In this 
passage (cf. Mat. xxviii. 19) we can see 
the Trinitarian doctrine taking shape. The 
grace of the Lord Jesus (Christ), and 
the love of God, and the fellowship of 
the holy Spirit, be with you all — all, 
including his malicious opponents ; a very 
noble and wonderful ending. 



EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



213 



EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 

Introduction. 

The epistle to the Galatians has been called " one of the apostle's mightiest 
deeds." It arose out of a conflict in which the very life of Christianity was 
at stake, and every line of it is instinct with all the earnestness and passion 
of the great apostle to the Gentiles. It is written at white heat. From the 
beginning, in which he expresses his astonishment at the change which has 
come over them in their attitude to the gospel he had proclaimed (i. 6), to 
the end, where he takes the pen in his own hand and writes out the thoughts 
of his heart in large letters and in words that burn and glow (vi. ii), the 
feeling with which the letter is charged is of the intensest. He begins with 
an anathema, twice repeated, upon those who proclaim another gospel than 
his own (i. 8, 9), he calls the Galatians unintelligent for allowing them- 
selves to be misled by this gospel which is no gospel (iii. i), he reminds 
them with deep emotion of the marks of Jesus which he bears upon his 
body (vi. 17) ; and all through the letter we feel that it is a " marked " man 
who is speaking, a man marked by insight into the meaning of the life 
and death of his Lord, no less than by the wounds which he had received 
in His service. Whoever is the manpleaser (vi. 12), it certainly is not Paul 
(i. 10) ; he is the intrepid defender of the truth. He does not hesitate to 
resist the great Peter to the face (ii. 11) and to denounce as hypocrites 
those who abandon a generous gospel for a sectarian one (ii. 13). 

Yet there are depths of the tenderest affection in this letter too. Those 
whom the writer begins by calling foolish he ends by acknowledging as 
his brethren (vi. i, 18) ; he feels to them as a mother to her child. — they 
are indeed his " Httle children " (iv. 19). He is afraid that all his labor upon 
them may have been for nothing (iv. 11), and he is sore perplexed about 
them (iv. 20) ; he would wish for nothing more than to be with them, to 
speak to them in tones of gentle expostulation. For he is too grateful ever 
to forget the unbounded enthusiasm with which they had received him when 
first he came among them. His visit was due to the accident of an illness, 
and therefore not specially calculated to elicit their gratitude, as it had 
formed no part of his original plan; nevertheless they not only welcomed 
him — which, considering the repulsive nature of the infirmity from which 
he was suffering, was an unexpected generosity — but the reception they 

214 



INTRODUCTION 215 



gave him could have been no better, had he been an angel or even Jesus 
Christ Himself (iv. 14). He can never forget that he is speaking to people 
who would have been ready to part with their very eyes, for his sake, had 
such a thing been possible (iv. 15). 

It. is one of the ironies of New Testament criticism that we do not 
definitely know who these people were. Galatia, the country to which they 
belonged, may be taken in a narrower or a larger sense. The country takes 
its name from the Gallic or Celtic tribes which had come from western 
Europe, and settled about 280 B.C. in the center and towards the north of 
what we now call Asia Minor. The word may also be used, however, in a 
wider sense. For eighty years (from 25 B.C.), Galatia had been a Roman 
province, and the term was used to cover parts of Phrygia, Lycaonia and 
Pisidia, to the south of the original ' Galatia.' The interest of the contro- 
versy lies in this, that, if the word is used in its wider sense, we know 
something of the churches to which the epistle is addressed, for they would 
then be the churches of Antioch (in Pisidia), Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, 
the story of whose founding is told in Acts xiii., xiv. ; while if the word is 
used in its narrower sense of the Celtic population of North Galatia, we know 
nothing of the churches to which the epistle was addressed except w^hat may 
be inferred from the epistle itself. 

In favor of the latter theory, which, till a comparatively recent date, held 
the field practically undisputed, it has been urged that the sensuousness, the 
love of strife (v. 19, 20) and of novelty (i. 6) which appear to have char- 
acterized the recipients of the letter, point to a Celtic destination. But these 
traits are human rather than specifically Celtic (v. 17), and any argument 
built upon them must be somewhat insecure. There is more force in the 
argument that an important letter such as this might naturally be expected 
to be addressed to the four southern churches, which were the first fruits of 
Paul's missionary activity among the Gentiles ; and on the other hand, that 
any ministry of Paul's among the Celtic population of ^^orth Galatia would 
surely have left a deeper trace upon the book of Acts. In point of fact, 
Galatia is there mentioned only twice, and then very briefly, Acts xvi. 6, xviii. 
23. Arguments, however, from expectation and silence are notoriously fal- 
lacious. SiefTert reminds us that the story of Paul's relatively unsuccessful 
effort at Athens is recorded with considerable fulness in the book of Acts, 
while that book has very little to say that throws any real light upon the 
relation of Paul to the church of Corinth, which received long and important 
letters. It is true that Paul '' wrote of the places he visited under the names 
of the Roman provinces to which they belonged " ; but this fact does not 
make for one side more than for the other. It only shows that by Galatia he 
may have meant the southern cities in Lycaonia, etc., but by no means that 
he must. 



216 INTRODUCTION 



The arguments on both sides are so finely balanced that it is extremely 
difficult to decide the question ; and one is inclined to sympathize with Jiilicher 
when he says, " The whole controversy is but of slender importance ; . . . 
and if instead of * Galatians ' we say ' Christian communities in the interior 
of Asia Minor/ the dispute is at an end." There certainly seems to be no 
overwhelming reason for abandoning the traditional view which favors North 
Galatia. Two visits to (presumably) North Galatia are recorded in the book 
of Acts, on the second and third missionary journeys respectively (xvi. 6, 
xviii. 23), and two visits are impHed by this epistle (cf. iv. 13, 16). Perhaps 
the scale is turned slightly in favor of the North Galatian theory by the 
account of Paul's illness (iv. I3ff.) of which, as Bousset says, *' there is no 
trace in Acts xiii., xiv. On the contrary, we receive here the impression of 
an extraordinary capacity for movement and work on the part of the apostle. 
That trait would, however, fit in admirably with the hints of the journey in 
Acts xvi. 6f. When it is recorded that Paul, hindered by the spirit from 
preaching the gospel in Asia, went through Phrygia and Galatia, we may 
venture to assume that the allusion is to the sickness mentioned in Gal. iv. 13, 
which the author of Acts regards as a disposition of Providence." Though 
there is no account in the brief notice of Acts xvi. 6, of the founding of 
churches in North Galatia, this is as good as implied by the subsequent notice 
in xviii. 23 that Paul " went through the region of Galatia and Phr\'gia, in 
order, establishing all the disciples/' The date of the letter is as difficult 
to determine as its destination, but it must obviously fall after Paul's second 
visit to Galatia — whether very soon after or not will depend upon the inter- 
pretation of his complaint that the Galatians were " so quickly '' changing 
their allegiance (i. 6). In any case, we cannot go far wrong in assigning the 
letter to the period of Paul's long stay at Ephesus, at the conclusion of his 
third missionary journey, and probably to the year 55 A.D. 

The membership of the Galatian churches must have been, perhaps not 
exclusively, but at any rate predominantly, of Gentile extraction. They are 
described as having formerly been idolaters, ignorant of the true God, and 
they were uncircumcised (v. 2, vi. 12), therefore they cannot have been Jews. 
The fact that the Old Testament is frequently appealed to, and a knowledge 
of it presupposed, is far from proving that the majority of the readers were 
Jewish. Christian preaching, finding as it did in Christ the fulfillment of 
the promises, could hardly ignore the Old Testament; but apart from this, the 
peculiar nature of the situation out of which the epistle grew, rendered 
the appeal to the Old Testament inevitable. To this Paul's opponents had 
appealed, and he simply took up the challenge. 

It is clear that there was organized opposition to Paul on the part of 
Jewish Christians who resented his attitude to their national law and insti- 



INTRODUCTION 217 



tutions. These agitators had probably come from the mother church at 
Jerusalem, like those who had disturbed the church at Antioch by teaching 
*' Except ye be circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved " 
(Acts XV. I ; cf. Gal. ii. 4). Paul accuses them of vanity and insincerity (iv. 
17, vi. 13) ; possibly at bottom they were really suffering from conventionality. 
They had not Paul's genius for separating the essential from the accidental 
in reHgion; they could not see that, as the Christian religion was final, it 
needed no buttress from Judaism, and that to insist upon the necessity of 
observing Jewish rites and ceremonies was practically to deny the sufficiency 
of Christ. If they, as Jews, cared, as a matter of habit, to retain those things, 
there was no reason why they should not ; but to impose them upon Gentiles 
was to mistake altogether the genius and the demands of Christianity. Al- 
ready, in Paul's absence, they had made considerable headway ; under the 
fascination of their arguments, the Galatians were beginning to observe the 
sacred days of the Jewish calendar (iv. 10), and they were contemplating 
circumcision (v. 2, vi. 12). Their argument appears to have been, not indeed 
that these things were absolutely obligatory, but that they set the crown upon 
the salvation which was already theirs in Christ ; acceptance of the Jewish 
law secured their place more firmly, so to speak, by bringing them definitely 
within the pale of the chosen people. It was a counsel of perfection. 

Paul's scornful and ironical question makes short work of their argument: 
/'Having begun in the spirit^ are you now being completed in the flesh f* 
(iii. 3). He forces upon them the alternative — Christ or the law: if they 
are being justified by the law, they are fallen from grace, and their connec- 
tion with Christ is annulled (v. 4). But his opponents may have been quite 
sincere in their arguments, and in any case those arguments were very 
plausible and well calculated to turn aside the Galatians from the race which 
Paul admits they had been running, so well (v. 7). The Jews were the 
chosen people, the Messiah Himself had been a Jew, the promises had been 
given to Abraham and to his seed, and the visible sign of that seed was 
circumcision. To become heir to the promises, one must be associated with 
Abraham's seed by the sign of circumcision. Circumcision might not be 
everything, but it was much, and to say, with Paul, that it was nothing 
(vi. 15) was the rankest of heresies. Did Paul know what he was doing in 
denying the efficacy of the law? If this were denied, would the liberty 
which he advocated, not degenerate into license, and morality lose its sanc- 
tion? Who was the man who thus defied the most sacred traditions of his 
countrymen, and by what authority did he say these things ? Thus the attack 
upon Paul's gospel resolved itself into an attack upon his apostleship. If his 
practical interpretation of the gospel differs from that of the Jerusalem 
church led by the " pillar " apostles, so much the worse for him. 



218 INTRODUCTION 



It is for this reason that Paul combines his exposition of the gospel with 
a defense of himself and a statement of the divine origin of his apostleship. 
His call and his gospel he owes to Jesus Christ and to God, not to man. 
His independent rights as an apostle had been conceded by Peter himself, 
when he gave him the right hand of fellowship, and on one crucial occasion 
he had even opposed Peter to his face. The magnificent exposition of the 
gospel which follows (iii. ff.) more than justifies his claim to independence: 
there was no man of his own time, and few men of any time, whose view 
of history was so profound, or who saw so clearly the em.ancipating power 
of the new religion. One does not wonder that his opponents were amazed 
and provoked by his attitude to the law. To their consternation, he spoke 
of it as bnngmg a curse (iii. lo) ; he often seems to make the opposition 
between the old order, represented by the law, and the new, represented 
by Christ, as final. Yet he has too penetrating a view of history to be- 
lieve that one period can thus stand unrelated to another. " Is the law 
against the promises of God? God forbid" (iii. 21). The law had the 
infinitely important function of deepening the moral consciousness (iii. 19), 
and thus of preparing men for Christ. Its function was temporary, but 
essential. 

Yet, though this is true, it is no less true that the new religion is a revo- 
lutionary force. Christ stands at the center of history : He creates a new 
world. When the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son (iv. 4), 
who bought us out from the curse of the law (iii. 13) — these are words 
of astonishing insight and power, which show how completely Paul grasped 
the unique historical significance of Jesus, and how clearly he understood 
the nature of the work which He had done. In the past there had of course 
been preparation for and foregleams of the Messiah ; all the men who like 
Abraham and Habakkuk, had trusted God with simple heart, had seen His 
day afar off. Yet though, in one sense, there is a continuity, in another 
sense there is a breach. Metaphor after metaphor is laid under contribution 
by Paul to illustrate the contrast between the epoch of the law and the epoch 
ushered in by Christ. The law is a gaoler, a pedagogue, a guardian or stew- 
ard ; those who live under it are as criminals, as children, or at best as 
youths in their minority. But those in Christ are men, mature and free. 
The contrast between the two dispensations is most frequently and sum- 
marily described as that between bondage and freedom, and the epistle is a 
most eloquent plea for freedom. '' It was for freedom that Christ set us 
free " — not for bondage of any kind, except it be the loving service of one 
another (v. I3f.). 

It is this which makes the compromise advocated by the Judaizers so 
intolerable to Paul. There are only two ways: justification by fulfilling the 



INTRODUCTION 219 



deeds of the law, and justification by faith in Christ. Every honest con- 
science admits the former way to be impossible; therefore justification is 
possible only to faith. But that faith is sufficient — it need not be and can- 
not be supplemented. If Christ redeemed us, we are redeemed indeed and 
need no further redemption. Those misunderstand and insult Him who pre- 
tend to complete by circumcision or in any other way the work which He 
accomplished (iii. 3). To insist upon these things is practically to sever 
our connection with Christ (v. 4). Thus Paul, by the giant blow which he 
dealt in this epistle to the Galatians, once for all shook Christianity free 
from the incubus of Judaism. Had his opponents had their way, the new 
religion would in all probability soon have sunk to the level of an insignificant 
Jewish sect, impotent to make its way in the great world where, for the most 
part, the elaborate ordinances of the Jewish law would have meant less than 
nothing, and vanity. But by his God-given insight, Paul set it free of its 
encumbrances, and sent it unimpeded to run its mighty course throughout 
the world. It is no accident that Luther was so powerfully attracted to this 
book. Seldom have there been two men more akin in their religious experi- 
ence before conversion, in the historical problems by which they were con- 
fronted, or in their appreciation of the liberty with which and for which 
Christ makes men free. 

In its ancient form, the controversy which gave birth to the epistle to the 
Galatians is dead, and can never be revived ; but in some form or other it 
has lived on, and continued to disturb the peace and prosperity of the church 
and of the individual soul. No Christian will ever again advocate a reversion 
to Jewish ordinances, or argue that the redemptive work which Christ has 
done must be completed or crowned by circumcision. But still tradition 
may lay its heavy hand upon the soul ; still the feet that should run well in 
the way of freedom may wear the shackles that hamper their progress. 
The old mistake is made, and its pathetic consequences are repeated, when 
men allow any doctrine or custom or ordinance to fetter the freedom of their 
souls, or when they permit themselves to drift or be drawn into any kind 
of bondage but the service of Christ and of one another. True religion is 
freedom. " It was for freedom that Christ set us free : stand fast therefore 
and be not entangled again in (any) yoke of bondage" (v. i). This great 
book, which embodies forever the charter of Christian freedom, Sabatier 
describes as " perhaps the most admirable manifestation of the apostle's 
genius. There is nothing in ancient or modern literature to be compared 
with it. All the powers of Paul's soul shine forth in these few pages. 
Broad and luminous views, keen logic, biting irony — everything that is most 
forcible in argument, vehement in indignation, ardent and tender in affection, 
is found here combined and poured forth in a single stream, forming a work 
of irresistible power." (The Apostle Paul, p. I53f.) 



THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
TO THE 

GALATIANS. 



CHAPTER I. 

1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, nei- 
ther by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God 
the Father, who raised him from the 
dead;) 

2 And all the brethren which are with 
me, unto the churches of Galatia : 



3 Grace be to you, and peace, from God 
the Father, and froiti our Lord Jesus 
Christ, 

4 Who gave himself for our sins, that 
he might deliver us from this present evil 
world, according to the will of God and 
our Father : 

5 To whom' be glory for ever and ever. 
Amen. 



The Greeting (i. 1-5). 

I, 2. Paul usually begins his letters by 
calling himself an apostle (cf. i Cor., 2 
Cor.), but nowhere, in the introduction to 
a letter, does he lay so emphatic a claim 
to the apostleship as here. His claim has 
obviously been energetically disputed, and 
he can do nothing by way of correcting 
the radical misconception of the gospel into 
which the Galatians have fallen, until he 
has convincingly established the challenged 
claim. In the emphasis and abruptness of 
the introduction we can hear the ominous 
sounds of the gathering storm. 

He begins by affirming that his call to 
the apostleship is of no human origin (dTro) 
or mediation (did) but divine. He is an 
apostle not deriving his office from men, 
nor, having it mediated to him through 
a man. His opponents may have main- 
tained, for example, that he owed his posi- 
tion, as missionary to the Gentiles, to the 
leaders of the Jerusalem church. This he 
denies; it comes to him not through a 
man (probably singular, to point the con- 
trast with Christ) but through Jesus 
Christ, who must therefore, by implication, 
be more than man — a fine indirect tcsti- 
m.ony to Paul's belief in the divinity of 
Christ. We should perhapc have expected 
Paul to say, by analogy, " through Christ, 
as mediating it, and from God as its 
source." Instead he says, through Jesus 
Christ and God the Father, implying that 
in his call to the apostleship God was 
working in and through Christ. So Paul 
describes himself as not merely " called 
(to be) an apostle" (i Cor. i. t), but 
called in the highest possible way, by 
Jesus Christ Himself, and therefore on I 

220 



an equality with the Twelve. He wqs not 
mdeed called during the earthly lifetime 
of Jesus — a point which no doubt told 
agamst him in the minds of his opponents : 
but he enjoved the unique distinction of 
bemg called by the risen Christ. Therefore 
God is here described as one who raised 
Him (Christ) from the dead. And Paul 
mcludes in his greeting all the brethren 
who are with me — probably not all the 
Christians in the city from which he is 
writing, but apparently all his companions 
ni work and travel. He may include them 
to show that the views expressed in the 
letter are not only his own, they are shared 
by others;, and yet it is hard to believe 
that the apostle who maintained so ear- 
nestly the divine origin of his gospel and 
apostleship would have imagined that such 
support added any real strength to his 
cause. Probably it is only a friendly in- 
clusion of friends. Paul's letter to' the 
churches — there were several — in Galatia 
is emphatically his own. though his asso- 
ciates may share in his greeting. The 
absence of any such honorable epithet 
from the word churches as is usual with 
Paul in the introduction of his letters, is 
significant alike of the condition of the 
Galatians, and of the severity of Paul's 
mood. They are not " beloved " or " saints " 
or " sanctified " ; they are not even, like 
conceited and turbulent Corinth (i Cor. i. 
2; 2 Cor. i. i). "churches of God." 

3-5. As Paul has given unique empha- 
sis to the fact and origin of his apostle- 
ship, so also, iov reasons connected with 
the situation in Galatia. he expands the 
ordinary greeting. Grace he to you and 
peace from God our Father and the Lord 
Jesus Christ (cf. i Cor. i. 3, 2 Cor. i. 2), 



Ch. I] 



GALATIANS. 



221 



6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed 
from him that called you into the grace 
of Christ unto another gospel : 



7 Which is not another; but there be 
some that trouble you, and would pervert 
the gospel of Christ. 



by a significant addition. As we shall 
see, the emancipating effect of the death 
of Christ was altogether misunderstood by 
the Judaizers who sought to undermine 
Paul's work; therefore he throws this into 
the forefront. Jesus is one who gave 
Himself to the death for our sins (cf. i 
Cor. XV. 3) — and if Himself, what is 
there left for ritual, ordinances, circum- 
cision to effect? — in order that He might 
DELIVER us out of the present world 
or age, which is an evil one. According 
to contemporary Jewish belief, there were 
two ages (aiu>v€s) — this and that which 
is to come. This age was bad, under the 
dominion of evil powers ; in the next, God 
would reign, and evil would be abolished. 
Paul takes over this belief, and, in taking 
it over, transforms it. He regards the 
death of Christ as the turning point in 
history ; and without abandoning the es- 
chatological view, he regards the new age 
as already begun for those who have ac- 
cepted the deliverance effected by the cross 
of Christ. The " world to come " is not 
so much a world of the future as a spir- 
itual world which exists even in the pres- 
ent age, though it will only attain its con- 
summation when Christ comes again. 
" The apostles speak of themselves and 
their generation as living on the frontier 
of two zeons, the gospel transferring them 
as it were across the border" (Lightfoot). 
It is sin that hinders " the coming age," 
but from tliis, from all the evils of the 
present age, including the legalism of the 
Jewish religion, Christ is the Deliverer ; 
the gospel is an emancipation. The Gala- 
tians, by their subservience to the bond- 
age of the law, were ignoring this, and 
frustrating the will of God for their de- 
liverance. For all this — the deliverance 
and the death of Christ by which it was 
effected — was in accordance with the 
will of our God and Father; and the 
very mention of the saving purpose of God 
realized in Christ causes the apostle to 
break forth into a grateful ascription of 
praise ; to whom (be) the glory which is 
His due for ever and ever {unto the ages 
of the ages). Amen. 



Curse Upon the Traitors to the Gospel 
(i. 6-10). 

6, 7. The very unusual introduction lets 



us feel the keen emotion, mingled of sor- 
row, surprise and indignation, with which 
the apostle has launched upon his task. 
At once it blazes forth ; I am astonished. 
Nowhere else does Paul begin as here. 
Usually he begins with an expression of 
congratulation or thanksgiving for the 
spiritual progress made by his correspond- 
ents (cf. Thess.). Even the Corinthian 
Church, whose attainments left much to 
be desired, were yet commended for the 
two graces in which they were really con- 
spicuous — speech and knowledge (i Cor. 
i. 5) ; but the situation in Galatia is de- 
plorable, even tragic, and Paul can only 
express his pain and astonishment. It is 
the perversion of the gospel he had 
preached that has stirred his soul to its 
depths, and turned his customary com- 
mendations into an anathema. I am as- 
tonished that you are so quickly chang- 
ing — playing the renegade, the turncoat — 
from Him (i.e. God, not Paul) who 
called you through the grace of Christ. 
It would be grammatically possible to 
translate; "from Christ who called you in 
grace ;" but this is improbable, as it is al- 
ways God who calls. Some old witnesses 
to the text omit " of Christ " ; and the 
sense thus secured would be thoroughly in 
keeping with the spirit of the epistle : "' from 
Him who called you in grace." The Gala- 
tians with their legalism, were turning their 
backs on grace. But no doubt xP'-<^'^°^ is 
original. The call came by means of 
Christ's grace, had that for its basis. The 
grace of Christ is the spirit which led him 
to stoop to share our mortal life, to ex- 
change the riches that were His in His 
pre-existent state for our poverty (see 2 
Cor. viii. 9) — that spirit which reaches its 
highest manifestation in His giving Him- 
self to the death for our sins (ver. 4). 
It is very significant of Paul's immovable 
confidence in his own presentation of the 
gospel that he describes the forsaking of 
his gospel for another as a forsaking of 
God, the God of^ grace ; it is a change to 
another type (erepov) of gospel, which 
is not another gospel. In spite of the 
fact that the distinction between eVepos (one 
of another kind) and aWos (another of 
the same kind) is by no means so rigidly 
maintained in later as in classical Greek 
(cf. i. 19, vi. 4 where erepos seems to be 
equal to aXXos), in a passage like this it 
seems natural to suppose that there is a 



222 



GALATIAXS. 



[Ch. I 



8 But though we, or an angel from 
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you 
than that which we have preached unto 
you, let him be accursed. 

9 As we said before, so say I now 
again, If any man preach any other gospel 



unto you than that ye have received, let 
him be accursed. 

ID For do I now persuade men, or 
God? or do I seek to please men? for if I 
yet pleased men, I should not be the ser- 
vant of Christ. 



real and intentional distinction (cf. i Cor. 
xii. 8-io). The gospel of legalism, by 
which the Galatians were being tempted, 
was a gospel of another kind than that 
W'hich Paul preached — another type of 
gospel. But the gospel is after all a 
unique thing; there cannot be two or more 
things called gospel — there can be no 
other (ovK dWo) than the one. There is 
only one " good news " — salvation by grace ; 
salvation by anything else is bad news. 
The meaning therefore practically is : " to 
another gospel which is no gospel at all." 
Paul is astonished that this change has come 
over the Galatians so quickly — whether so 
soon after their conversion, or more prob- 
ably so lightly; a little clever talk on the 
part of the Judaizers, and lo ! the Gala- 
tians are beginning to transfer their alle- 
giance to another gospel. The change for 
which Paul so vehemently upbraids them 
is not yet complete: it is still in process 
— you are changing (pres.) ; only there 
are some who are confusing you, and 
who are desirous — though they have not 
yet completely succeeded — of reversing 
the gospel of {i.e. about) Christ, espe- 
cially of His grace. The margin of A. R. V. 
links, as is grammatically quite possi- 
ble, OVK dWo with et /xri^ " another gospel 
which is nothing else save that there are 
some, etc." This new gospel is simply a 
confusion, a reversal of the gospel of 
Christ. 

8, g. But nothing can be more awful 
than to pervert or reverse the gospel of 
Christ: accursed be those who attempt it, 
whosoever they be. The respect Paul had 
shown to the Jerusalem decree CActs xv.) 
in commending it to the cities through 
which he passed (Acts xvi. 4) together 
with his circumcision of Timothy (Acts 
xvi. 3) may have exposed him to the 
charge of sympathy with " Judaism " (ver. 
13, 14) in spite of his gospel of free grace. 
But he is prepared to have his curse light 
upon himself, if he should prove a traitor 
to that gospel ; though we ourselves, or 
even an angel from heaven preach (to 
you) a gospel contrary to the one which 
we preached to you — curse upon him. 
These are terrible words, but they are not 
said in the heat of passion : Paul means 
what he says, and he deliberately and sol- 



emnly repeats it, this time in view of an 
actual ("' with indie.) and not merely of 
a hypothetical (edv subj.) offender. As 
we have said before (not in ver. 8. but 
probably on his second visit to Galatia) 
so now again I say, if any one is preach- 
ing to you (a gospel) contrary to that 
which you received from me — curse 
upon him (lit. let him be anathema, de- 
voted; originally in a good sense, devoted 
to God ; then, in a bad sense, to the anger 
of God, to destruction). Not only had 
he^ preached it (ver. 8) but they had re- 
ceived it — which made their apostasy the 
worse. Those who contradict Paul's gos- 
pel of the grace of God are equally worthy 
of anathema with those who do not love 
the Lord (i Cor. xvi. 22). Trap' 6 might 
rnean (as the Protestants, opposed to tra- 
dition, maintained against the Roman 
Catholics) '" beyond that which I preached " ; 
but the context which contemplates a re- 
versal of the gospel (cf. ver. 6, 7) shows 
that the word practically means " contrary 
to." 

10. The double pronouncement of so 
solemn a curse shows that Paul is in 
deadly earnest. He may in the past have 
been accused of seeking to win men by 
cunningly complaisant speech ; but surely, 
at any rate, they cannot say that of him 
nozu. Such terrible words are not the 
language of a man-plcascr (Eph. vi. 6). 
For now is it men that I am seeking 
to conciliate, or God? His only care is 
to please God by his vigorous defense of 
the gospel. Bousset suggests that this may 
be Paul's retort to some insinuation that 
with his plausible arts he would beguile 
not only men but God Himself. Or do I 
seek to please men? Such speech is little 
likely to please them. Paul counts him- 
self the servant of Christ: and therefore, 
if, after my conversion and call. I were 
still pleasing men, I would not be any 
longer the servant of Christ. No man 
can serve two masters. Though there is 
such a thing as adapting one's self to men 
for the gospel's sake (i Cor. ix. loff.), 
the policy of pleasing both them and Christ 
is impossible. Paul, the servant (slave) of 
Christ, chooses, if the occasion demands 
it, to use language which will startle and 
displease men. 



Ch. I] 



GALATIANS. 



223 



The opening passage of the Epistle 
creates the impression, which is confirmed 
by every subsequent word, that, in the sit- 
uation which Paul here addresses, tremen- 
dous issues are at stake. It was nothing 
less indeed than the future of the gospel 
of Christ, and to Paul that was every- 
thing. This present world is evil, it stands 
infinitely in need of a gospel, and a Re- 
deemer ; and in Christ these had come. 
Through Him and especially through His 
death, emancipation from the sin and evil 
of the world had been won, and by His 
apostle had been proclaimed. 

But this gospel of grace was confronted 
by another, which contradicted it and 
which could therefore be no gospel. The 
message of the Judaizers, instead of *' de- 
livering " men, left them still in their fet- 
ters, slaves of rite and ceremony, bondmen 
and not free; and if they triumphed, then 



it was all over with Christianity, as Christ 
had created it, and as Paul had under- 
stood it. For if it was anything, it was 
emancipation, the lifting of the burden, the 
transportation of the soul out of (e/c, ver. 
4) one world into another. Where this 
emancipation was not accomplished, the 
gospel had failed of its proper work; where 
this emancipation was deliberately repu- 
diated, and bondage to externals, of what- 
ever kind, was insisted upon as a condition 
of salvation, the gospel was denied in its 
most vital point. Cursed, says Paul, be 
every one who proclaims any such gospel 
as that. That is no gospel at all. If a 
burden of ordinances has still to be borne 
upon the weary shoulders of those who 
are hoping for the salvation of God, that 
is not good news (evayyeXiov) but bad, the 
worst ; for it is a travesty, indeed a reversal 
of the true gospel of Christ. 



224 



GALATIAXS. 



[Ck. I 



THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF PAUL'S CALL AND OF HIS GOS- 
PEL AND HIS CONSEOUENT INDEPENDENCE AS 
AN APOSTLE (i. ii-ii. 21). 



11 But I certify you, brethren, that the 
gospel which was preached of me is not 
after man. 

12 For I neither received it of man, 
neither was I taught it, but by the revela- 
tion of Jesus Christ. 

13 For ye have heard of my conversa- 



tion in time past in the Jews' religion, how 
that beyond measure I persecuted the 
church of God, and wasted it : 

14 And profited in the Jews' religion 
above many my equals in mine own nation, 
being more exceedingly zealous of the tra- 
ditions of my fathers. 



The man who rises to the attack against ' 
this spurious, but fatal " gospel," is no less 
than an apostle of Jesus Christ Himself, one 
who by Him has been specially called and 
commissioned. It is important for Paul to 
make this point clear, before he proceeds, 
because the word can have no more weight 
than the man behind it. He has called 
down a curse upon all whose gospel con- 
tradicts his; he has made for his own gos- 
pel the stupendous claim of being the only 
gospel. Who is this man? and by what 
authority does he speak thus? It is to 
answer these questions that Paul enters 
into the following detailed and extremely 
valuable account of his call and the sequel 
to it. 



Paul's Gospel Rests Not on Human Teach- 
ing But on Divine Revelation 
(i. II, 12). 

II, 12. For I give you to know, 
brethren — the first affectionate word in 
the epistle — that the gospel preached by 
me is not after any human fashion or 
standard; for its origin is not human (ver. 
i). Neither did I for my part (e-yw) 
receive it from any man by transmission 
or tradition, nor was I by others formally 
taught it, but it came to mc through (a?) 
revelation from Jesus Christ. It was 
not man, but Christ (cf. ver. i) who re- 
vealed it. In spite of ver. i6 ("it pleased 
God to reveal His son in me") the con- 
text shows that Xpicrrov here is subjective 
not objective genitive; not a revelation of, 
concerning Christ, , but one which came 
from Him. He is referring apparently to 
the revelation at his conversion, the ap- 
pearance on the way to Damascus; in that 
overwhelming experience of the crucified 
Jesus risen from the dead, all Paul's gospel 
lay in germ. Paul had revelations of other 
kinds and at other times (2 Cor. xii. i) ; 



different again, perhaps, and less dramatic, 
were the revelations " through the spirit '* 
(i Cor. ii. 10) ; but the reference here is 
more naturally to the unique vision which, 
changed his life and gave him his gospel. 

Paul's Independence of the Apostles 
(i. 13-24). 



13, 14. Paul now proceeds to establish 
his contention that he did not receive his 
gospel from man (ver. 12) by pointing out 
that in the period before his conversion, 
so far from being hospitable to Christian 
influences, he actually perseciUed the 
church. For you heard of my former 
manner of life in Judaism, how that be- 
yond measure I kept persecuting (impf.) 
the church of God — a solemn phrase, 
which suggests Paul's remorse of con- 
science as he looks back upon his terrible 
past (cf. I Cor. xv. 9) — and devastating 
(same word -n-opdelv in Acts ix. 21) it. The 
Galatians may have heard the story of 
Paul's former life from his opponents, who 
no doubt twitted him with being a turn-coat 
(cf. ver. 6) ; but it is pretty certain that 
they had also heard the story from his own 
lips. From the speeches in Acts xxii. and 
xxvi. we can believe that Paul often thus 
referred to his own past; it helped to 
magnify the grace of God who had deliv- 
ered him from it. And this oiitii'ard per- 
secution of the Christian Church had as 
its support and counterpart an inicard and 
growingly tenacious devotion to Judaism, 
by which he apparently means not only 
the Jewish religion in general, but its 
minuter observances, rites, and traditions 
in particular. And I kept advancing in 
Judaism beyond many of my own age 
— his felUnv -scholars in the Rabbinical 
schools — among my Jewish kinsmen 
(yevos, cf. 2 Cor. xi. 26) — he is addressing 
Gentiles — being more exceedingly zeal- 



Ch. I] 



GALATIANS. 



225 



15 But when it pleased God, who sep- 
arated me from my mother's womb, and 
called me by his grace. 

16 To reveal his Son in me, that I 
might preach him among the heathen; im- 
mediately I conferred not with flesh and 
blood : 



17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to 
them which were apostles before me ; but I 
went into Arabia, and returned again unto 
Damascus. 

18 Then after three years I went up to 
Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with 
him fifteen days. 



ous than they for my ancestral Pharisaic 
traditions, that is not only for the law, 
but also for the traditional interpretations 
that had gathered round it. In his zeal 
for these traditions, Paul, the Pharisee 
(Acts xxiii. 6, Phil. iii. 5), formed a very 
striking contrast to Jesus, in whose_ eyes 
the real word of God was made void by 
them (Mark vii. 13). A persecutor so bit- 
ter and a Pharisee so zealous was hope- 
lessly inaccessible to Christian influence. 

15, 16. Having established, on its neg- 
ative side, that he could not have received 
his gospel "from man" (13, 14), he pro- 
ceeds, positively, to show that it came from 
God, and indeed that his call was rooted 
in the gracious purpose of God. ^ But when 
it was the good pleasure of Him, i.e. God 
(though 6 Geos is hardly original), who 
separated me, like the ancient prophet 
Jeremiah (i. 5; cf. Is. xHx. i) from my 
mother's womb, i.e. from before my birth, 
and called me through His grace (cf. ver. 
6) to the new life in Christ — n^hen it was 
God's good pleasure to reveal His son in 
me. The revelation was made not only to 
him, but in him, though it does not follow 
that this inward revelation or illurnination 
was unaccompanied by some striking ex- 
ternal phenomenon (Acts ix. 7, xxii. 9) ; 
and the unspeakable grace of the revelation 
consisted in this, that it had been made 
to the very man who had persecuted this 
divine Being, the Son of God, who was 
being revealed. Out of this revelation of 
the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, 
all Paul's theology grows. His " call " on 
this great day ran both backward and for- 
ward : backward to a divine purpose, which 
had begun to shape his career before he 
was born — and thus he is lifted to the dig- 
nity of the Hebrew prophets ; and forward 
to a life of service among the Gentiles. 
Pharisee means " the separated one " ;_ and 
there may be a subtle allusion to this in 
the phrase God zvho separated me. Paul 
is God's own Pharisee, separated not to a 
life of separation, but to a Hfe broad as the 
world and generous as Jesus, a Hfe among 
the nations, the Gentiles, the heathen. The 
purpose of the revelation and the call was 
that I might preach Him unceasingly 
(pres. not aor.) among the Gentiles. It 



is probable that Paul did not at once reach 
the conviction that his life was to be de- 
voted to the Gentiles ; but the sequel showed 
that it was the divine purpose, and from 
this point of view, it dates from the moment 
of the revelation. 

16, 17. Having shown that the revelation 
came to him without human mediation, he 
now shows that after it he took no human 
counsel. One might have supposed that 
immediately he would have taken steps to 
consult the " authorities," the apostles, who 
presumably knew most of the mind of 
Jesus, but I did not consult flesh and 
blood, i.e. man in distinction from God 
(Mat. xvi. 17), nor did I go up — Jerusa- 
lem was set high among the hills — to Jeru- 
salem, the most natural place to go to, as 
the head of the Judsean church, and the 
headquarters of the leading apostles, to 
the apostles who were called before me — 
an implicit claim on his own part to be 
an apostle — but I went fiway to Arabia, 
by which he probably means the district in 
the neighborhood of Damascus, as Arabia at 
that time extended far to the north. The 
object of this sojourn in Arabia, which is 
not mentioned in Acts (ix. 19-25), has 
been variously conceived. Some suppose 
that he preached there to the Bedouin 
Arabs, others to the Jewish population of 
the district ; but more probably he simply 
went to " possess his soul," to secure the 
soHtude necessary for meditation upon the 
new experience which had revolutionized 
his inner life, and was to revolutionize his 
outward career. The context seems to de- 
mand this : he goes to some place where 
there is, generally speaking, no opportunity 
for consulting with authoritative " flesh and 
blood." Like his Master after the great 
experience of baptism, he went to the wil- 
derness. And again I returned to Damas- 
cus, from which he had to flee secretly, as 
plots were being formed against his life 
(Acts ix. 23-25, 2 Cor. xi. 32!). 

18-20. Of his history for the next four- 
teen years, three stages are clearly marked 
by e-rreiTa (then) three times repeated. Not 
at once (ver. 16) but only then after three 
years, i.e. three years after his conversion 
I went up to Jerusalem, but even now not 
with the intention of consulting anybody, 



226 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. I 



ig But other of the apostles saw I none, 
save James the Lord's brother. 

20 Now the things which I write unto 
you, behold, before God, I lie not. 



21 Afterwards I came into the regions 
of Syria and Cilicia ; 

22 And was unknown by face unto the 
churches of Judea which were in Christ : 



but simply to become acquainted with 
Peter, as he is called in ii. 7, 8, but here 
and elsewhere by Paul, Cephas. This visit 
is an implicit recognition of Peter's au- 
thority, but not of his superiority. And I 
remained with him a fortnight — long 
enough to get acquainted with him and to 
"hear his story" of Jesus, but too short a 
time to receive instruction (ver. 12) from 
him, or to affect seriously a spiritual de- 
velopment which had been steadily progress- 
ing for three years. The brevity of his 
stay may be partly explained by the plots 
against his life (Acts ix. 29). And of the 
apostles I saw no other — perhaps because 
they were engaged on missionary tours — 
except James the Lord's brother. The 
Greek probably, though not inevitably, im- 
plies that James was one of the apostles. 
The word apostle could be used of him 
only in the larger and looser sense. He 
had not believed in Jesus during His life- 
time (John vii. 5), but he had been 
visited by the Lord after His resurrection 
(i Cor. XV. 7), and he became the leader 
of the Jerusalem church. Paul and James 
may each have told the other how the Lord 
had appeared to him. It is altogether prob- 
able that Paul's opponents had maintained 
that those features of his gospel in which he 
agreed with the " apostles " he had received 
from them by instruction, while those in 
v^hich he differed were his own invention. 
Paul has already effectually replied to this 
contention. It is no invention, it is a rev- 
elation ; and he owes it to God, not to the 
apostolic leaders at Jerusalem. He clenches 
this statement, so important for his pur- 
pose, with a solemn oath ; and with regard 
to what I am writing to you when I 
maintain my independence of Peter and 
the other apostles (18, 19) see! in the 
sight of God, I He not (cf. 2 Cor. xi. 31). 
21, 22. Then — the next stage (cf. ver. 
18) — I came into the regions {KXlfiara, 
cf. 2 Cor. xi. 10) of Syria and Cilicia, 
laboring especially in the capital cities 
Antioch (Acts xi. 25!) and Tarsus (Acts 
ix. 30). Though the Cilician mission 
preceded the Syrian, Syria is mentioned 
first, partly perhaps because it was the more 
important province, and partly because 
Paul's mission there was the more im- 
portant. And this absence from Palestine il- 
lustrates his further statement: I remained 
unknown (impf. with ptc.) by sight dur- 



ing all this time to the churches — of which 
there must have, therefore, been several, 
Jerusalem being the head — of Judaea that 
are in Christ; i.e. the Christian churches. 
This statement is intended to show that 
he was also during this period independent 
of influences from the headquarters of the 
faith. Many difficult problems gather round 
the relation of these verses to the narratives 
in Acts. Are the churches of Judcea, for 
example, intended to include or to exclude 
Jerusalem ? Apparently Jerusalem must be 
included, for that is the chief point of 
Paul's argument — that he was unknown 
by sight to those from whom he might con- 
ceivably have received instruction, and 
these would most naturally be in Jerusalem. 
It was Paul's debt to the Jerusalem church 
and its leaders that the Judaizers were in- 
terested in maintaining and Paul in denying. 
But the difficulties of this are two-fold, 
(i) What are we to make of the statement 
in Acts ix. 27-29 that Barnabas introduced 
Paul to the "apostles" (which is hardly 
the impression one gathers from Gal. i. 19, 
unless " apostle " is used in the looser 
sense) and that he went in and out at 
Jerusalem, " preaching boldly in the name 
of the Lord "? It may indeed seem natural 
that, in his zeal and bitter regret for the 
past, he may have sought and embraced 
opportunities to preach in the city in which 
he had helped to put Stephen to death; 
but, in that case, how could one who went 
out and in and preached thus boldly be 
unknown by sight? It is more probable, 
argues Bousset, " that Paul was then in the 
deepest seclusion at Jerusalem. If already 
the Jews in Damascus were pursuing Paul 
with bitter enmity, and had driven him to 
secret flight, how much hotter must the 
ground in Jerusalem have been for the 
apostate Pharisee?" But again (ii.) it 
may be asked, how in any case can Paul 
have been unknown to the church of Jeru- 
salem? Had he not taken part in the execu- 
tion of Stephen, and in the subsequent per- 
secution of the church? This difficulty is 
lessened when we remember the subordinate 
part Paul had played at the execution, the 
length of time that had since then elapsed, 
and the effect of persecution in dispersing 
the original members of the church. Sief- 
fert believes, that Paul did preach during 
his brief stay at Jerusalem, and in the 
statement that Paul was unknown by sight 



Ch. I] 



GALATIANS. 



227 



23 But they had heard only, That he 
which persecuted us in times past now 
preacheth the faith which once he de- 
stroyed. 

24 And they glorified God in me. 



CHAPTER 2. 

1 Then fourteen years after I went up 
again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and 
took Titus with me also. 

2 And I went up by revelation, and 



to the churches of Judaea, he interprets 
Judaea as the province, as distinguished 
from the capital (but this again, as we 
have seen, seems hardly relevant to Paul's 
context). Acts xxvi. 20 represents Paul as 
preaching " at Jerusalem and throughout 
all the country of Judsea " ; but this may 
perhaps refer to a subsequent occasion. 
The statements of Galatians, coming as 
they do from Paul's own hand, are cer- 
tainly worthy of very special attention, 
though we must be on our guard against 
too readily assuming contradictions be- 
tween these and the narratives in Acts. 
In both books, the statements are exceed- 
ingly few and meagre ; and if we knew 
more, we might see better how these co- 
here. 

23, 24. Paul was not known to those 
churches by sight, but only by hearing: 
they were continually hearing (impf. 
with ptc. as in ver. 22) reports to the 
effect that " Our former persecutor is 
now preaching the faith — not in an ob- 
jective sense, the Christian religion (though 
such a use of the word would lead in 
time to the objective, cf. 2 Cor. xiii. 5) 
but rather " trust in Christ " — which, in 
the person of its adherents, he used once 
to devastate " (ver. 13) ; " the wolf turned 
shepherd," as a Greek father says. And, 
unlike the Galatian Judaizers, they gave 
unceasing (impf.) glory not of course to 
me, but to God for the grace which He 
had manifested in me. 



Recognition of Paul's Independence and 

Co-ordinate Authority on the Part 

of the Apostles at Jerusalem 

(ii. i-io). 

The next incident (cf. then, ver. i) 
which Paul emphasizes in vindication of 
his independence of " man," occurred four- 
teen years later. On that occasion he had 
gone from Antioch to Jerusalem to lay 
before the apostolic authorities there the 
whole question of the gospel as he pro- 
claimed it in heathen countries. It was 
very easy for his adversaries to represent 
this step as a definite acknowledgment of 
the superior authority of the Jerusalem 
apostles. Paul's own account of the inci- 



dent shows that this is a complete mis- 
conception. So far was this from being the 
case that on the contrary (ver. 7) they ac- 
knowledged his co-ordinate authority, and 
the principle for which he was contending 
— the freedom of the Gentiles from the 
obligations of Jewish observance, especially 
of circumcision — won a brilliant victory 
in the person of Titus. 

1. Then after an interval of fourteen 
years — apparently not fourteen years after 
his conversion, but after the visit to Jerusa- 
lem which he has just narrated, and there- 
fore seventeen years after his conversion — I 
again went up to Jerusalem with Barna- 
bas, who had brought Paul to Antioch 
(Acts xi. 26) and been associated with 
him in his missionary work. It is prac- 
tically certain that the meeting with the 
apostles which Paul is about to narrate is 
identical with the Jerusalem council de- 
scribed in Acts XV. In that case, however, 
the word again causes difficulty; it sug- 
gests that this was the first visit to Jeru- 
salem after the one mentioned in i. 18. 
Between these two, however, according to 
Acts xi. 30, xii. 25, a visit was made by 
Paul and Barnabas, who brought from 
Antioch a collection for the poor of Judsea. 
We may assume, with some, that this visit 
has been antedated (cf. Acts xxiv. 17) ; 
or, more probably, that owing to the per- 
secution (Acts xii.) the visit was made in 
secrecy. / went up taking Titus also with 
me, who, as a Greek (ver. 3) and uncir- 
cumcised, was a living illustration of Paul's 
conception of the gospel as unconditioned 
by circumcision, and a living protest against 
the views of the Judaizers. Titus, nowhere 
mentioned in the book of Acts, was a com- 
panion of Paul, apparently a man of fine 
tact, as he was more than once entrusted 
by Paul with a delicate mission to the Co- 
rinthians (2 Cor. vii. 6ff., viii. 6, 16 ff.). 
It was a bold step to take the uncircumcised 
Titus to the very spot where a challenge 
was inevitable. The case of Titus would 
be a test case. 

2. And I went up by revelation. How 
it came to him we do not know (see on 
2 Cor. xii. i). Paul chooses here to ac- 
centuate the religious factor that deter- 
mines him. In Acts xv. 2 the story is 
told rather from the historian's point of 



228 



GALATIAXS. 



[Ch. II 



communicated unto them that gospel which 
I preach among the Gentiles, but privately 
to them which were of reputation, lest by 
any means I should run, or had run, in 
vain. 



3 But neither Titus, who was with me, 
being a Greek, was compelled to be cir- 
cumcised : 

4 And that because of false brethren 
unawares brought in, who came in privily 



view. There Paul and Barnabas and 
some others are appointed to go to Jeru- 
salem- to discuss with the apostles and 
elders a question which had been raised 
by some who had come from Judaea and 
insisted upon circumcision as necessary to 
salvation. Even though appointed, he went 
in the consciousness of being divinely 
sent. And I laid before them — the Chris- 
tians of Jerusalem — the gospel which I 
not only then preached but which I still 
preach among the Gentiles, the gospel 
which I have preached to you Galatians, a 
gospel " without circumcision." The Gala- 
tians cannot but be keenly interested in 
the attitude of the Jerusalem church to 
Paul on the very question which has be- 
come so prominent among themselves. 
The Judaizers profess to represent the 
true gospel as against Paul ; what then did 
Jerusalem and the apostles say? Paul 
presented his case at a public meeting, 
and privately (or in particular) before 
the authorities Peter, James, and John 
(ver. 9). The word authorities (those in 
repute) probably represents the flavor of 
the Greek word (oi 8okovvt€s). It is used 
several times in this passage (vv. 6, 9) 
and sometimes seems to have a tinge of 
irony. It expresses, however, as the whole 
context -shows, no disrespect towards the 
apostles themselves ; but is an ironical al- 
lusion to the word so often heard upon 
the Hds of Paul's opponents, who appealed 
to the Jerusalem " authorities." The last 
clause of the verse is hard to interpret : does 
fj-V mean lest, or does it introduce an in- 
direct question? On the latter assumption, 
the meaning will be : " Am I running, or 
have I run in vain?" Paul himself has 
no doubt of the answer; but he is anxious 
to have a favorable pronouncement from 
the Jerusalem church upon the gospel 
which he puts before them. There is no 
reason, however, to depart from the or- 
dinary meaning lest, if that makes good 
sense. " I laid my gospel before them lest 
by any means I should be running (pres., 
not aor.) or had already, as a matter of 
fact (hence indie, after f^-v) run in vain." 
If this means that Paul lays his gospel 
before them with any fear of their de- 
cision, and in the anxious hope of secur- 
ing their authentication for it, then such 
an interpretation must be unhesitatingly 



rejected. Paul would be glad of their 
syrnpathy, but he does not ask them for 
their sanction. He has come up to Jeru- 
salem " according to revelation," confident 
of the truth of his gospel and the justice 
of his cause ; and he has no fear that his 
presentation of the gospel has been either 
a mistake or a failure. He knows, as a 
matter of fact, that he is not running, 
and has not run in vain'; but what he fears 
is that the Jerusalem church may think 
differently, and that, by an adverse de- 
cision, they may put obstacles in his way, 
so that, there would be a real schism in 
the Christian church and in the front that 
it presented to the world, and in a real 
sense, he might be said to be running in 
vain. Paul compares his apostolic career 
to a race (cf. i Cor. ix. 26). 

3. Whatever misgivings Paul may have 
had when he came to Jerusalem, they were 
completely removed by the decision of the 
council, the result of which was a trium- 
phant vindication of his policy. Nay, not 
even Titus who was with me — though 
the demand for his circumcision, on the 
part of Paul's Judaizing opponents, was 
very keen, and his case, under the circum- 
stances, was one of crucial importance — 
Greek though he was, was compelled to 
be circumcised. A resolute attempt was 
made to compel his circumcision, but he 
was not compelled, the attempt failed. 
Some suppose the meaning to be that Titus 
zcas circumcised, but voluntarily, so far as 
Paul was concerned — not under compul- 
sion. The grammatical irregularity of the 
next verse and the variety in the reading 
of verse 5, compel us to leave the question 
of Titus' circumcision theoretically open; 
but practically, in such a context, there 
can be no doubt whatever. Paul has come 
to Jerusalem for the express purpose of 
defending the gospel which he preaches 
among the Gentiles — a gospel without cir- 
cumcision. He is not going to_ stultifv his 
cause by allowing the circumcision of the 
very man on whom the hopes of his op- 
ponents are so determinedly set. That 
would be an indubitable triumph for them, 
and it would be the lamest of all excuses 
for Paul to say that though he did it. he 
was not compelled to do it. 

4. But on account of the false breth- 
ren who had been foisted in among us 



Ch. II] 



GALATIANS. 



229 



to spy out our liberty which we have in 
Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into 
bondage : 

5 To whom we gave place b}^ subjec- 
tion, no, not for an hour ; that the truth of 
the gospel might continue with you. 



6 But of those who seemed to be some- 
what, whatsoever they were, it maketh no 
matter to me: God accepteth no man's 
person ; for they who seemed to be some- 
■icliat in conference added nothing to me: 



— those probably who had come down 
from Jerusalem to Antioch, and insisted 
on circumcision as a condition of salva- 
tion (Acts XV. i) ; such men continually 
dogged the steps of Paul (cf. 2 Cor. xi. 
26). What happened because of the false 
brethren, does not appear, as, in the rush 
of emotions with which the great scene is 
recalled and described, the grammar is for- 
gotten. He cannot have meant to say 
that, for their sakes, Titus had been cir- 
cumcised. No doubt, as we have seen, 
Titus was not circumcised ; but apart from 
that, we may be sure that Paul, glad as 
he was to make a generous concession, 
where no moral interest was at stake, to 
•weak brethren (i Cor. viii.), would have 
made none to false brethren. Nor can the 
meaning be that it was on their account 
that Titus was not circumcised ; the prin- 
ciple of non-circumcision for Gentiles had 
to be maintained all the more firmly be- 
cause of their opposition. This is to make 
the action of Paul turn too much on their 
attitude ; we may be sure that Titus would 
not in any case have been circumcised. 
A. R. V. marg. reads " But it was because 
of the false brethren." This might mean 
that Paul's whole course of action, his 
visit to Jerusalem, his interview with the 
leaders, etc., was caused by the action of 
the false brethren. But it is perhaps better 
to assume that in his spirited description 
of them, he runs on regardless of the open- 
ing words, and passes unconsciously to a 
new sentence without completing the pre- 
ceding one. This explanation is all the 
more probable as such an irregularity cer- 
tainly occurs in ver. 6. The stealthy, sur- 
reptitious introduction of these brethren is 
powerfully suggested by the double use of 
the prefix irapeia-. They are brethren who 
stole {sneaked?) in, not of course, to 
" edify " the church, but, like the enemies 
they were, to spy out our liberty — the 
freedom from the law enjoyed by all Chris- 
tian men, but here perhaps more specifically 
the liberty of Paul and Barnabas, in pro- 
claiming such a gospel — which we have 
in virtue of our union with Christ Jesus, 
in order that they might enslave us, surely 
(fut. indie, after tVa, perhaps to indicate 
the certainty of their hope) and utterly 
{Kara) not indeed to themselves (which 



would require the middle voice) but to 
the law. The same word enslave is used 
of similar people and similar conduct in 
2 Cor. xi. 20. 

5. But not for a mo'tnent (lit. to zchoni 
not even for an hour) did we yield to 
them the (t^) subjection they demanded 
of us — that would have been to imperil, 
if not to destroy, the very truth for whicli 
we were contending ; so we refused in 
order that the truth of freedom from the 
law, that freedom which is indispensable 
to the gospel, should continue to remain, 
with all the Gentiles to whom it was 
preached, and therefore with ycu as well, 
though, by your conduct in listening to 
the Judaizers, you are now imperilling the 
principles which I then defended against 
bitter opposition. Singularly enough, some 
]\ISS. omit ols ouSe, thus making- Paul say 
that he did yield for an hour. But in such 
a context, and at such a crisis, this is as 
good as inconceivable. The truth of the 
gospel for which Paul is and was con- 
tending is that circumcision is unnecessar}', 
and he must have stubbornly resisted the 
demand for it. The very words breathe 
the spirit of heroic and determined resist- 
ance. 

6. In his successful opposition to the 
demand for the circumcision of Titus, Paul 
has discomfited the false brethren, and 
scored a brilliant triumph for his own con- 
ception of the gospel. But more ; he is 
now definitely recognized by the leaders 
of the Jerusalem church as the divinely 
appointed minister of the gospel to the 
Gentiles (6-10). 

But from the authorities (cf. ver. 2) — 
here again, in the heat of the moment, the 
grammar is forgotten. Paul may have 
meant to go on — " I received no authen- 
tication, advice, commission, etc.'" — this 
idea is taken up, in a different construc- 
tion, three clauses further on. But the 
words "those who had the reputation of 
being something " lead Paul into a paren- 
thesis — whatever they were makes no 
difference to me — which again gives rise 
to another parenthesis : GOD respecteth 
not MAN'S person (the Greek order 
brings out strongly the contrast between 
God ^ and man). The clause beginning" 
biroioi TTore may be rendered ; " of what 



230 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. II 



7 But contrariwise, when they saw that 
the gospel of the uncircumcision was com- 
mitted unto me, as the gospel of the cir- 
cumcision zcas unto Peter; 

8 (For he that wrought effectually in 
Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, 
the same w^as mighty in me toward the 
Gentiles;) 



9 And when James, Cephas, and John, 
who seemed to be pillars, perceived the 
grace that was given unto me, they gave 
to me and Barnabas the right hands of 
fellowship ; that we should go unto the 
heathen, and they unto the circumcision. 

10 Only they would that we should re- 
member the poor ; the same which I also 
was forward to do. 



sort they once were " during the lifetime 
of Jesus, enjoying His fellowship; or more 
probably, " of what sort soever they were." 
On either view, it is clear that Paul's op- 
ponents were fond of extolling the au- 
thority of the apostles, which they regarded 
as unique. Paul, following the divine 
estimate of men, regards human au- 
thority as a matter of indifference. Car- 
rying the revelation of Jesus and the divine 
authentication in his heart, he needs no 
authentication from the apostles. " It 
makes no difference to me;" for to me 
the authorities — (catching up the broken 
clause at the beginning of the verse) — 
imparted (cf. consult, confer with, in i. i6; 
same Greek word) nothing, no communica- 
tion or authorization — they recognized my 
independence ; Paul owed them as little on 
the second visit as on the first (i. i8f.) = 
The words, however, may possibly mean ; 
"they imposed nothing on me" — no lim- 
itation of my missionary activity, no ob- 
ligation to observe the law. If the latter 
be the meaning, a difficulty is raised by 
the terms of the decree in Acts xv. 20, 29. 
7, 8. Not orily did they not impart any- 
thing to me, but on the contrary, when 
they {i.e. the authorities — Peter, James 
and John, ver. 9) saw from the report 
which I laid before them (ver. 2} with 
the " signs and wonders wrought among 
the Gentiles " (Acts xv. 12) that I was, 
as I still am (perf.), entrusted with the 
gospel for the Gentiles, the uncircum- 
cised, as surely as Peter with the gospel 
for the Jews, the circumcised — a great 
admission to make {Kadm even as), a 
practical recognition of the co-ordinate im- 
portance of Paul and Peter. There are of 
course not two gospels (one involving cir- 
cumcision for the Jews, the other remit- 
ting it to the Gentiles), but only one; and 
accursed be the man who is not faithful 
to that (i. 8f.). Two spheres of evan- 
gelical activity are implied — not, however, 
strictly geographical, as the Jews were 
scattered everywhere about the world ; and 
even those two spheres are not mutually 
exclusive. Paul also preached in the syn- 
agogues to the Jews, and Peter to the 



Gentiles (Acts xv. 7, x.). Paul here in- 
terrupts his sentence to emphasize the 
unity in God that underlies both Peter's 
work and his own; it was in the inspira- 
tion of the divine strength that the work 
of both was done. For He that wrought 
for Peter, equipping him with gifts and 
strength for his apostleship among the 
circumcised, wrought also for me for my 
work among the Gentiles. It is some- 
what surprising that Paul does not take 
this opportunity of co-ordinating the ap- 
ostolic importance of his own work with 
that of Peter, especially as the grammatical 
structure of the sentence almost invited 
such a statement ; ets ri]v diroaTokriv twv 
edvwv (to the apostleship of the Gentiles). 
But at any rate the whole context is an 
implicit acknowledgment of his apostleship ; 
he received the right hand of fellowship. 

9, 10. Seeing that I was entrusted with 
the gospel for the uncircumcised, and per- 
ceiving the grace of God that was given 
to me — as manifested in his whole won- 
derful career, his conversion, his call, his 
striking success as a missionary to the 
Gentiles — James, the Lord's brother (i. 
19), and Peter, here, as elsewhere (ex- 
cept vv. 7, 8) called Cephas, and the 
apostle John, the son of Zebedee, who 
were regarded (oi doKovvres, cf. ver. 2, 6) 
as pillars of the church (supporting it, as 
pillars support a temple), gave me and 
Barnabas right hands of fellowship. 
Here then Paul's gospel and missionary 
policy arc deliberately and cordially recog- 
nized at the headquarters of the Jewish 
church itself, and even by the leaders of 
that church, two of whom were direct apos- 
tles of Jesus. They acknowledge Paul not 
as an inferior, but as their fcllozi', divinely 
called to share with them the evangeliza- 
tion of the world, that WE (should go) 
to the Gentiles and THEY to the cir- 
cumcision, each to the sphere for which 
by gifts, sympathies and experience, he 
was best fitted. This was a recognition 
not only of Paul's peculiar sphere, but of 
his gospel, for in that sphere he preached, 
as he iiad told them (ver. 2) a gospel 
without circumcision. The only injunc- 



Ch. II] 



GALATIANS. 



231 



11 But when Peter was come to Anti- 
och, I withstood him to the face, because 
he was to be blamed. 

12 For before that certain came from 



James, he did eat with the Gentiles : but 
when they were come, he withdrew and 
separated himself, fearing them which 
were of the circumcision. 



tion that the elder apostles associated 
with the compact was that we should 
remember the poor of Judaea (the poor, 
for emphasis, is placed before tva, cf. 2 
Cor. ii. 4). The poverty of the Jerusalem 
church, inviting as it did the liberality of 
the foreign churches, was a powerful 
means of strengthening the feeling of 
brotherhood and the unity of the Christian 
church (cf. 2 Cor. ix. 12-15). And this 
very thing I have been not only willing, 
but (Kal) zealous to do. Paul's unabated 
zeal in collecting among the Gentiles for 
the poor of the mother church is attested 
by I Cor. xvi. 1-4, 2 Cor. viii. ix. (where 
he urges upon the Corinthians the example 
of the Macedonians), Acts xxiv. 17. Ac- 
cording to Acts xi. 30, xii. 25 (but see on 
Gal. ii. i) he had even collected for the 
poor before the Jerusalem council. 



The Clash at Antioch: Paul Asserts Him- 
self Against Peter (ii. 11-21). 

This passage forms a striking climax to 
Paul's argument for his apostolic inde- 
pendence. He has shown that he did not 
derive his gospel or his commission from 
man. He did not even see the apostles 
till three years after his conversion, and 
then he received no instruction from them. 
When, fourteen years afterwards, circum- 
stances compelled him again to visit Jeru- 
salem, his independence and equality were 
recognized by the apostles. Now at An- 
tioch, when an issue crucial for the future 
of the Christian church and " the truth 
of the gospel" (ver. 14, cf. 5) has to be 
fought out, he maintains his position even 
against Peter. Apart from its historical 
and theological importance, the passage is 
one of large human interest ; two great 
apostolic leaders, differing in insight atnd 
courage, but one in their devotion to the 
service of Christ and His church, are 
ranged on opposite sides in a vital ques- 
tion, and one is driven by his conscience 
and his conception of the gospel to with- 
stand the other to the face. 

II, 12. But when Cephas, i.e. Peter 
came to Antioch — no doubt after the 
Jerusalem conference described in i-io ; 
in the period covered by Acts xv. 30-35, 
rather than in the later period (Acts xviii. 
22), as by that time Barnabas, who is 



present in Gal. ii. 13, had parted from 
Paul (Acts XV. 39) — I resisted him to 
the face, an abrupt and startling state- 
ment, considering the " right hand of fel- 
lowship " which he had received from 
Peter only two verses before ; but the rea- 
son was because he stood convicted of 
inconsistency by his own conduct. The in- 
consistency is now explained as a change 
of attitude towards the Gentile Christians 
of the Antioch church. For during the 
period (impf.) before «the arrival of some 
delegates from James, he was eating with 
the Gentiles. In this he was acting in the 
spirit of the lesson he had learnt in con- 
nection with Cornelius (Acts x. 15, 28), 
and in the spirit of the recent compact, 
generously interpreted ; but not at all in 
the spirit of an orthodox Jew (Acts xi. 
2; cf. Luke XV. 2). Apparently many of 
the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem had 
not so interpreted the compact ; they had 
recognized the legitimacy of Paul's gospel 
to the Gentiles, but the Jews, in becoming 
Christians, were still to remain Jews, faith- 
ful to their laws and usages ; and fidelity 
to ritual prescription, e.g. in the matter 
of food, was obviously impossible to Jews 
who associated at tables with Gentiles, who 
were bound by no such scruples. In this 
light we are no doubt to understand the 
deputation from James. It is indeed quite 
possible, as Lightfoot suggests, to suppose 
" that they came invested with some powers 
from James which they abused." But, 
considering the tenacity with which James 
adhered to Jewish custom (Acts xxi. 18 f.), 
and considering, further, that Peter him- 
self, despite his past, experience, abandoned 
his generous attitude to the Gentiles, it is 
more probable that these delegates did not 
misrepresent the mind of James. The 
truth is that the compact, with its sharp 
division of the Christian world into Jews 
and Gentiles, did not clearly contemplate 
the difficulty that would be created by a 
mixed church, such as existed at Antioch. 
But after their arrival, he (Peter) began 
to withdraw and finally to separate him- 
self, and maintained this separative policy 
(impf.) because he was afraid of the 
adherents of circumcision, not perhaps of 
the Jewish Christians generally, but of the 
stricter of them, who insisted upon the 
Gentiles adopting Jewish rites, as a con- 
dition of intercourse with them. Peter's 



232 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. II 



13 And the other Jews dissembled like- 
wise with him ; insomuch that Barnabas 
also was carried away with their dissimu- 
lation. 

14 But when I saw that they walked 
not uprightly according to the truth of the 



gospel, I said unto Peter before them aH, 
If thou, being a Jew, livest after the man- 
ner of Gentiles and not as do the Jews, 
why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as 
do the Jews? 



conduct and example in refusing to eat 
with the Gentiles was a matter of the 
gravest importance, considering the love- 
feast which accompanied the celebration 
of the Lord's Supper (cf. i Cor. xi. 20- 
34) ; communion between members of the 
two great sections of the church would 
thus become impossible, and the sacrament 
which ought to have united men would 
divide them. It is curious to find Peter, 
after the lapse of so many years, and con- 
sidering his pre-eminent authority in the 
Jewish church, the victim of fear. We 
see, for one thing, how powerful the 
Judaizing spirit must have been in the 
Jewish church, when it was able to bend 
to its will the powerful Peter; and again, 
we see how persistent, if not ineradicable, 
are the ground features of any individual 
character. Afraid of a servant maid; and 
over twenty years after, afraid of the 
champions of circumcision. " The whole 
incident is remarkably characteristic of 
Peter — ever the first to recognize, and the 
first to draw back from, great principles 
and truths" (Alford). 

13. And the rest of the Jews, i.e., Jewish 
members of the church at Antioch, noth- 
ing loth to follow so illustrious an ex- 
amiple, also played the hypocrite with 
him. According to Paul, then, Peter was 
a hypocrite; he pretended, by his policy 
of separation, to abandon principles in 
which he really believed. He still believed 
that it was right to eat with Gentiles; 
but fear, and the pressure of the delegation, 
combined to induce him to recant. Perhaps 
this is rather less than just to Peter. He 
habitually acted under the impression of 
the moment. At first, in the impulse of a 
large-hearted enthusiasm, he associated 
with the Gentiles on equal and brotherly 
terms ; but the presence of the deputation 
from Jerusalem, and the awakening con- 
sciousness of the wide and important con- 
sequences of the step he had taken, would 
set his conduct in a different light, and 
he may quite sincerely, however incon- 
sistently, have " withdrawn and separated 
himself." To Paul, with his clear concep- 
tion of the finality of the gospel, and of 
the utter irrelevance of rites and cere- 
monies, such a step may well have seemed 
hypocrisy. And the example of Peter was 



so contagious that even Barnabas was 
also carried by their hypocrisy; another 
proof how tenacious was the clutch, and 
how powerful the appeal of Judaism — 
Barnabas was a Levite. His defection 
must have been to Paul an almost more 
staggering blow than the recantation of 
Peter, as he had accompanied Paul on his 
first missionary journey (Acts xiii. 2ff.) 
and had been, in a sense, his fellow-apostle 
to the Gentiles (xiv. 4, 14). 

14. But when I saw that they did 
not walk straight in accordance with 
(Trpos; so rather than in the direction of), 
the truth of the gospel (cf. ver. 5), which 
does not need, and cannot tolerate, any 
supplement from the side of ritual pre- 
scription, I said to Peter (Cephas) pub- 
licly before them all, as, considering the 
pernicious influence of Peter's example 
upon the rest of the Jewish Christians 
(ver. 13) a public reproof seemed to be 
necessary : " If you, being by nature 
(vwdpxo^v) a Jew {i.e. born and bred a 
Jew; Lightfoot) (can) live like the Gen- 
tiles and unlike the Jews, how is it, then, 
that, if not in definite words, at any rate 
by the force of your influence and exam- 
ple, you compel the Gentiles to adopt 
the usages of the Jews? The present 
tense f^s can hardly be meant to im- 
ply that, for a continuous period, Peter 
had abandoned Jewish in favor of Gentile 
usages ; but simply that, as occasion of- 
fered, e.g. in the matter of common meals, 
he showed the same liberal attitude to the 
Gentiles and, to that extent, the same con- 
ception of the gospel, as Paul. But what 
an inconsistency ! argues Paul. You your- 
self are now imposing upon the Gentiles 
usages which your recent conduct shows 
that you regarded as unessential. Peter's 
present conduct, as Paul points out more 
fully in the next paragraph, is really be- 
ing determined by the Jewish law, not 
by the Christian gospel. The Jews wnshed 
to maintain the law and the gospel; Paul 
saw. with the clearness of noon-day. that 
it must be the law or the gospel. Whether 
his public rebuke of Peter was in the best 
Christian spirit, it would be impossible, 
without further knowledge of the incident, 
to say ; but, at any rate, it is very intelli- 
gible. To Paul the very essence of the 



Ch. II] 



GALATIANS. 



233 



15 We who are Jews by nature, and not 
sinners of the Gentiles, 

16 Knowing that a man is not justified 
by the works of the law, but by the faith 
of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in 
Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by 
the faith of Christ, and not by the works 



of the law : for by the works of the law 
shall no flesh be justified. 

17 But if, while we seek to be justified 
by Christ, we ourselves also are found sin- 
ners, is therefore Christ the minister of 



sm 



God forbid. 



18 For if I build again the things which 
I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 



gospel had been jeopardized by the^^action 
of Peter in " withdrawing himself " ; and 
if ever intrepid speech was necessary, it 
was then. 

15-21. These verses hover between the 
personal incident just narrated and the 
more doctrinal portion of the epistle be- 
ginning with ch. iii. ; and it has been a 
long debated question whether they go 
with the one or the other. They are cer- 
tainly somewhat doctrinal in form, but in 
any case the doctrine glows with reminis- 
cences of the encounter with Peter, and 
some of it is only fully intelligible with 
that incident as its immediate background. 
Paul must certainly have said more than 
is recorded in ver. 14; and his general 
argument on that occasion, if it be not 
literally reproduced in vv. 15-21, must have 
at least run along those Hnes. Probably 
the truth is that the speech begun in ver. 
14 fades insensibly into reflections, which 
partly reproduce the original argument, 
and are partly addressed to the very sim- 
ilar situation which Paul confronts in 
Galatia. Instances of reports of speeches 
passing into reflections are not uncommon 
(cf. John iii. 11, 16). 

15, 16. WE (^/-tet's) (are) born Jews 
and not Gentile sinners — Gentiles and 
therefore sinners. These words can only 
be ironical on the lips of Paul; they are, 
at any rate, an argument addressed to the 
Jewish consciousness of superiority and 
prerogative, a prerogative which the very 
next verse shows to be unreal, or, at any 
rate, ineffective, so far as salvation is con- 
cerned. Perhaps, as Lipsius has suggested, 
we have here " the very words in which 
Peter sought to justify his separation from 
the Gentile Christians." Yet knowing, as 
we do, that man is not justified by 
(e/c; justification does not spring from) 
the works of {i.e. prescribed, demanded 
by) the law, but only by means o£ faith 
in Christ Jesus, WE ALSO (««' ^i^^'^^) 
no less than Gentile sinners, despite our 
alleged superiority as Jews, became be- 
lievers in Jesus Christ, in order that we 
might be justified by (e/c, from) faith 
in Jesus Christ, and not by the works 
of the law; for, by the works of the 



law, as we read in Psalm cxliii. 2, in 
somewhat modified form, " no flesh, no 
m.ortal man, shall be justified." The 
argument is clenched, or at least crowned, 
as often in Paul, by a quotation from 
Scripture, though it gains its point largely 
from his own addition " from the works 
of the law." The word voiios {law) though 
used here without the article, refers 
throughout the epistle definitely to the 
Jewish law, and more particularly on its 
ceremonial side, as contrasted with the 
Ep. to the Romans, where the emphasis 
is rather on the ethical side. The demands 
of the law are such that justification can 
never come for man that way. Justification 
is acquittal in judgment, the recognition 
that a man is in right relations with God. 
This he cannot secure by " works of the 
law," which leads to despair, but only 
" through faith in Christ," by whose death 
for sin, with its dehverance from the law, 
and in general from " this present evil 
world " (i. 4) those relations were made 
possible. This faith in Christ is as neces- 
sary to Jews as to Gentiles. " We who 
are Jews," no less than the sinners of 
the Gentiles, in order to attain salvation, 
had to " become believers in Christ." The 
law, then, which gave the Jews a seeming 
advantage, is really no advantage after all. 
The gospel needs and receives no help from 
it; for the purposes of the gospel, it is 
useless. And yet this is just what Peter, 
by his conduct, has failed to recognize. 
He is giving the law a place to which it 
has no right, and is thus- practically deny- 
ing the adequacy of the gospel, of faith in 
Christ Jesus alone. 

17, 18. In abandoning his intercourse 
at table with the Gentiles, Peter practically 
confesses that that intercourse was sfnful. 
Here then is a dilemma. Peter " seeks 
to be justified- in Christ," and yet through 
seeking this justification in Christ alone, 
and^ thus considering himself free from 
Jewish ritual obligation, he has been led 
into sin. It is Christ, then, in a sense, 
who is responsible for his sin, in leading 
him to break with the Jewish law. But 
Christ a minister of sin ! Impossible. 
Now if, seeking to be justified in {i.e. 



234 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. II 



19 For I through the law am dead to 
the law, that 1 might live unto God. 

20 I am crucified with Christ : never- 
theless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth 
in me : and the life which I now live in the 
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of 



God, who loved me, and gave himself for 
me. 

21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: 
for if righteousness come by the law, then 
Christ is dead in vain. 



almost = through faith on) Christ alone, 
we (Paul includes himself for argument 
and courtesy's sake) ourselves were found 
to be sinners, is Christ then a minister 
of sin? Never! But if not Christ, then 
who ? for there is sin somewhere ; if a 
man goes back upon his previous conduct, 
if he rebuilds what he has destroyed, he 
was guilty either then or now, and he 
confesses as much ; the guilt is obviously 
his own. So here, Peter, by his with- 
drawal from the Gentiles, is rebuilding the 
Jewish legal system which by his friendly 
association with them, he had destroyed. 
The guilt is not Christ's, but his own, and 
he has incurred it through a false or at 
least fatally inadequate conception of the 
gospel. For if I (anyone; though he is 
thinking particularly of Peter) rebuild the 
very things which I destroyed. I prove 
MYSELF the transgressor. 

19. For, I, for my part (e7c6) unlike 
Peter and " the other Jews " who, by re- 
establishing the law, are virtually living to 
it, am dead to the law^ Through his " faith 
in Christ," he has virtually entered another 
world, and is dead to " this present world " 
(i. 4) represented by the law. And this 
death has been brought about " by the law " 
itself. The real explanation of this remark- 
able utterance is probably to be sought in 
Paul's mystical " crucifixion with Jesus " 
(ver. 20). The law slew Christ; but in 
dying. He satisfied its claims, and it has 
therefore no more power over Him. Those 
who believe in Christ, are, according to the 
mystical idea of Paul, one with Him — 
one in death and one in resurrection. In 
His death they died, and in His resur- 
rection life they live again. So the law 
which slew Christ, slew also Paul, for he 
was " crucified with Him " (ver. 20) ; and 
thus it was through the law that he too 
died. Also of course to the law ; for, losing 
its power over Christ, by His " becoming 
a curse for us," it loses its power over 
those who are one with Him in His death 
(iii. 13). By Plim they are redeemed from 
it, and from all this present evil order of 
the world (i. 4), to which they are now 
literally dead. J through the law. died to 
the law, that I might live unto GOD. 
Peter was trying the experiment of being 
at the same time dead to the law, and also 



very much alive to it ; to Paul compromise 
is impossible. He sees that when a man 
dies to the law, he must live to God. 

20, 21. The death and the life are 
equally real and permanent. He died, was 
crucified, in Christ's crucifixion ; I have 
been, and am forevermore (perf.) crucified 
with Christ; and it is no longer I that 
live — for I do live (note the emphasis of 
fw and ^v) — but Christ that lives in me. 
He is another man in another world, not 
only having broken with, but having died 
to, his old past. It is not himself at all 
that lives, but another self, Christ in him. 
The transforming and regenerating effect 
of Christ upon him could not be more 
vividly stated. And yet he cannot forget — 
he has too many painful reminders — that 
he is still in the flesh, living under the 
limitations of this physical and mortal 
frame. But faith in the son of God has 
the power of ideally transcending these 
limitations; and the life that (lit. that 
which) I now since my conversion live, 
I live in the atmosphere and power of 
faith on Jesus Christ, who is no less than 
God's own son (some ^NISS. read God and 
Christ), who loved not only the world in 
general, but me in particular, and on the 
cross, gave Himself to the death for mc, 
on my behalf (virip), i.e. for my sins (i. 4) 
and, to deliver me from the present evil 
world. The death of Christ, which abol- 
ished the power of the law, is to Paul the 
supreme illustration of the grace of God. 
The Jews found this divine grace also in 
the law which gave them their fancied su- 
periority over the "heathen sinners" (ver. 
15), and Paul's opponents may have twitted 
him with rejecting this. But he replies, 
I am not frustrating the grace of God. 
He finds that grace completely embodied in 
the death of Christ ; those who really frus- 
trate it are the men like Peter, who try to 
effect a compromise between Christ and 
the law. For if it is by the law that 
righteousness (justificatiiMi) (comes), then 
Christ died for nothing; if righteousness 
was to be attained by the law, then the 
death of Christ was superfluous. 



The first two chapters are of great bio- 
graphical interest and importance, not only 



Ch. II] 



GALATIANS. 



235 



because they record some facts which are 
not elsewhere recorded, but because they 
reveal something of the inner consciousness 
of the aoostle, of the overmastering con- 
viction by which he was possessed that he 
had been divinely called to a unique task, 
of his consequent independence of all hu- 
man authentication, and of the courage with 
which he was prepared to maintain his 
conception of the gospel even against 
leaders whose peculiar position entitled 
their opinions to special respect, and 
whose authority was naturally regarded 
by a very large number of earnest men 
as supreme. Paul understood probably 
better than any man of his time the genius 
of both the great rehgions which had 
claimed his homage. Of his profound 
understanding of what was involved in 
Christianity, and of his zeal in her be- 
half, his epistles and his marvelous mis- 
sionary career are the witnesses : and his 
fidelity towards Judaism is doubly attested 
here by his own confession that he had 
been exceedingly zealous for the ancestral 
traditions, and that he had bitterly opposed 
the progress of the young Christian church. 
The revolution which had been wrought 
in his inner life and which had given him 
his gospel was due to nothing less than a 
revelation; it goes back to the great day 
when he had been suddenly smitten down 
on the way to Damascus. 

As that wonderful experience had come 
to him directly from the supernatural 
world and entirely without human media- 
tion, it inspired him, on the one hand, 
with a sense of independence, and on the 
other with a certainty and confidence in 
his call and his message which no subse- 
quent experience had the smallest power to 
shake. He meets the great leaders of the 
church, but he owes to them neither his 
gospel nor his authentication. His whole 
career and interpretation of the gospel is 



one eloquent substantiation of his claim 
to independence. He is not afraid to take 
the uncircumcised Titus to the very me- 
tropolis of Jewish Christianity, and to 
show by deed as well as by argument, that 
Gentiles ought not to be " enslaved " to 
Jewish law. In the great scene at Antioch, 
where he and Peter cross swords, it is diffi- 
cult to say whether one admires more his 
insight or his courage. He saw with abso- 
lute clearness that in the seemingly trivial 
issue involved in the question of common 
meals for Jew and Gentile, a question of 
transcendent importance had been raised, 
and the whole future of Christianity was 
at stake. 

It was much to see with such lucidity 
the imphcations of the new religion, but 
it was more to defend it with intrepidity 
and single-handed against an influential, 
bigoted and determined opposition. The 
delegates " from James " who represented 
the " circumcision," must have been able 
to bring no little pressure to bear upon 
the situation when even Peter, pillar 
though he was, was afraid of them. But 
his timidity throws Paul's courage into 
all the more splendid a light. It would 
be of peculiar interest to know more of 
the detail of such a fight, when in a public 
gathering of excited men, these two great 
leaders, each devoted to their common 
Master, faced each other, symbolizing, in 
their opposition, the two great types of 
Christianity; but we know at least the 
main point, that Christianity was saved 
by Paul. Peter's attitude was in effect to 
" rebuild the things which had been al- 
ready destroyed." Paul saw and pro- 
claimed with deadly earnestness the im- 
possibility of compromise; he "did not 
yield " for a momicnt. He could not 
stand silently by, while men were being 
reduced to the bondage from which. Christ 
had set them free. 



236 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. Ill 



JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH : FREEDOM FROM THE LAW 

(iii. i-v. 12). 



CHAPTER 3. 

I O FOOLISH Galatians, who hath be- 
witched you, that ye should not obey the 



truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath 
been evidently set forth, crucified among 
you? 



The first two chapters of the epistle 
have been largely in the form of a per- 
sonal narrative. The weight which at- 
taches to the exposition of the gospel 
which Paul is about to give, and to his 
exposure of the tragic misconception of it 
entertained by the Judaizers, comes from 
his being an apostle. This apostleship he 
naturally begins by proving. Neither it 
nor the gospel which it commissions him 
to proclaim is of human origin. He re- 
ceived it " by revelation of Jesus Christ " 
(i. 12), not from the leaders of the Jeru- 
salem church. Nay, those leaders later ac- 
knowledged his equality with them, and 
later still, one of them he had even to 
resist to the face. 

This elaborate personal narrative is 
doubly relevant to the doctrinal and prac- 
tical purpose with which Paul writes to 
the Galatians. It shows them that, what- 
ever he has to say, he says with the full 
authority of an apostle ; and further the 
error which he writes to combat so stren- 
uously, is the very error of the man whom 
he had had to withstand to the face. That 
misconception of the gospel, illustrated by 
Peter's deference to ritual usage, his em- 
phasis on external- and material things, 
was rooted with fearful tenacity in the 
Jewish nature, as we have seen in the 
defection " even of Barnabas " ; and it had 
been sedulously cherished by the cham- 
pions of Jewish prerogative throughout 
the churches which Paul had founded. 
Though it is convenient to recognize in 
ch. iii. I the beginning of a new section 
in the epistle, this is most vitally connected 
with all that has gone before, and very 
especially with the immediately preceding 
verses. They had set forth Christ cru- 
cified, and the power of that death to 
abolish the ritual claims and national dis- 
tinctions upon which Peter had been in- 
sistiin?. The same error had " bewitched " 
the Galatian church, though that church 
had, in the preaching of Paul, had " Christ 
crucified " persistently set before it. A 
real appreciation of the meaning of that 
Figure upon the cross — of the complete- 



ness and the finality of the work there 
done — ought for ever to have extinguished 
all belief in the adequacy or necessity of 
legal righteousness (ii. 21). Paul was as- 
tonished. 



The Possession of the Spirit Comes Not 

From Lazi'j But From Faith 

(iii. 1-6). 

It is first to their undeniable possession 
of the spirit on the part of the Galatians 
that Paul appeals, in vindication of his 
plea for faith as opposed to works. Surely 
the Galatians will not maintain that the 
spirit, with its marvelous manifestations, is 
the product of law. Faith alone creates 
and explains them. 

^ I. It is very seldom that Paul addresses 
his readers by name, and only in moments 
of great emotion (2 Cor. vi. 11, Phil. iv. 
15). Here, as he thinks of the ease with 
which the Galatians have fallen a prey 
to the appeals of the Judaizers, he breaks 
out into a cry of regretful and indignant 
astonishment, O foolish Galatians — fool- 
ish (cf. ver. 3), because as we see from 
ver. 2, they had rejected the very obvious 
lessons of experience. Paul can explain 
the change by nothing less than sorcery. 
Who was it that bewitched you? The 
words T'ij oK-qdeia fir] Trel6ea6ai^ ** that ye 
should not obey the truth," A. V. should 
be omitted, with the best 1\ISS. and 
A. R. V. It appears to come from v. 7, 
It is difficult to say whether this word 
{^acKaLvo}) is intended to suggest the 
witchery of the evil eye. or of evil speech 
(Pd^iv). It was certainly accomplished by 
speech, but perhaps the following clause 
suggests the influence of the eye. Eyes 
before which the cross of Christ had been 
held could only have forgotten that sight 
by coming under the influence of some 
baleful fascination. Among the Galatians, 
as among the Corinthians (i Cor. i. 23, 
ii. 2) Paul's preaching had gathered round 
" Christ crucified," and he is astonished 
that men who had heard such a gospel and 



Oh. Ill] 



OALATIANS. 



237 



2 This only would I learn of you, Re- 
ceived ye the Spirit by the works of the 
law, or by the hearing of faith? 

3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in 



the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the 
flesh? 

4 Have ye suffered so many things in 
vain? if it he vet in vain. 



seen such a sight — that you {vfJ-o-s with a 
certain emphasis) should have been be- 
witcned, YOU before whose eyes had 
been openly portrayed Jesus Christ cru- 
cified. The emphasis falls upon the cru- 
cified, and the perf. partic. suggests the 
abiding fact of the cross, its permanent 
place in the proclamation of the gospel. 
The theme of Paul's preaching was not 
only Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ cruci- 
iied; this whole epistle illustrates the fun- 
damental and even revolutionary signifi- 
cance of the cross to Paul. Before the 
eyes of the Galatians Jesus Christ on the 
cross irpoeypd^r]. Various explanations 
have been given of this word : zi'-ritten of 
beforehand whether in the Old Testament, or 
in some previous letter of Paul ; placarded 
as a public notice, etc. But taking ypa.(pu} 
as to paint, irpoypdcpo} may mean to paint 
publicly, and the reference would be to 
the great picture of the crucified One 
which Paul held before the minds of his 
hearers. How could they have drifted 
away from the impression which it had 
made upon them? (iv v/j.lv, which many 
good j\ISS. omit after Trpoeypdcprj, ought, if 
retained, to go with that verb, not with 
the following participle : not " crucified in 
or among you," A. V., but " depicted 
among you "). 

2. This is all that I should like you 
to tell me; was it from the works of the 
law that you received the spirit or from 
hearing in faith? The spirit was an un- 
deniable possession; it was the power that 
governed the new life into which their 
conversion had ushered them; but as in 
I Cor, xii. xiv., it was often accompanied 
iDy striking external manifestations — ec- 
static speech, gifts of healing etc. (cf. i 
Cor. xii. 28), and ver. 5 {dvpdfxeis) shows 
that it is at least partly of that that Paul is 
thinking here. Where had this spirit come 
from (e/c) ? Clearly not from works of the 
(Jewish) law, for as Gentiles they had no 
such law. Their salvation, at any rate, 
liad not come from observing circumcision, 
ritual usages with regard to food, etc., but 
only from the hearing of faith, — not, of 
course, from listening to the exposition of 
the Christian faith, but from listening in 
faith, from that hearing which is accom- 
panied by faith. It was not by doing, but 
by Hstening, not by what they had ac- 
complished, but by what they had heard 



in faith, that they had received the spirit. 
3, 4. Are you so foolish? — their folly 
consisting in turning their back upon the 
lessons of experience. Having begun 
with the spirit, are you now, after your 
experience of the spirit's power, making 
your completion with the flesh? The 
brief incisive words of Paul point the con- 
trast _ with great vigor and irony. This 
question perhaps throws some light on the 
arguments of the Judaizers. They did 
not apparently deny that salvation was 
possible in Christ to the Gentiles who held 
aloof from Judaism ; but they maintained 
that the Jews themselves, and those who 
embraced Judaism enjoyed, as it were, a 
higher form of salvation. The one was 
indeed a beginning, but the other was the 
completion, and it could be enjoyed only 
by the true children of Abraham (ver. 7). 
eiriTekelade has more force in the context 
as middle than as passive; the process of 
completion is made by and upon them- 
selves. The completion in the flesh refers 
particularly though not exclusively to cir- 
cumcision. From spirit to flesh, from life 
and power to ritual — that were indeed a 
strange progress ! " An evangelical begin- 
ning is too often followed by a rituahstic 
ending." (Findlay, Galatians, p. 175). 
Have you enjoyed all these Christian 
experiences (/>. of the spirit) in vain? 
It is diflicult to decide whether ewddeTe 
means suifered (A. V., A. R. V.) or ex- 
perienced? Certainly the former is the 
meaning elsewhere in the New Testament; 
and there is direct evidence that the con- 
verts at Iconium, Lystra etc. were exposed 
to suffering (Acts xiv. 2, 5, 19, 22). Even 
if these ought not to be considered as 
Galatians (see Introduction), there can 
be little doubt that the converts in Galatia 
proper would have been equally subject to 
persecution. " No one could come out of 
heathen society and espouse the cause of 
Jesus, without making himself a mark for 
ridicule and violence" (cf. Acts xiv. 22). 
All this suffering will have been for noth- 
ing, if they go back to the bondage out 
of which they were delivered; and Paul's 
question is all the more pointed, if the 
suffering should have come upon them, as 
it did upon the converts at Iconium, partly 
at least from Jews (xA.cts xiv. 5) — they 
are returning to the very thing they had 
suffered for abandoning. But this thought. 



238 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. Ill 



5 He therefore that ministereth to you 
the Spirit, and workcth miracles among 
you, docth he it by the works of the law, 
or by the hearing of faith? 

6 Even as Abraham believed God, and 



it was accounted to him for righteousness. 
7 Know ye therefore that they which 
are of faith, the same are the children of 
Abraham. 



while thoroughly appropriate in itself, does 
not seem so relevant to the context, as 
the other, which refers iirddeTe to ^ the 
spiritual benefits enjoyed by the Galatians. 
Have you had all these blessed and won- 
derful experiences in vain? Are you so 
unintelligent, stupid? Yet Paul cannot 
bring himself to believe that his converts 
are so obtuse, that all those experiences 
will really and ultimately be lost upon 
them. Hoping better things of them, he 
adds, if indeed it be really in vain. 

5. This verse resumes and emphasizes 
the question of ver. 2. He then who is 
liberally supplying you with the spirit, 
i.e. God (not Paul) and proving the 
spirit's indubitable presence by manifestly 
working mighty deeds among you, — 
(does He do this) (supply you with the 
spirit and work among you) in conse- 
quence of (e/f) your works of the law, 
or of your hearing in faith? The gram- 
mar leaves it open to us to translate : " He 
who was supplying and working — {did 
He do this?)" — the reference being, as 
in ver. 2, to the past. But it is equally 
possible to consider the spirit and its man- 
ifestations as still present, though, owing 
to the Judaistic influence, in diminished 
degree. For dwd/xeis (powers, mighty 
works) cf. I Cor. xii. 28. 

6. Your spiritual gifts, the apostle 
says, come from faith; and it was faith 
that made Abraham the man that he was 
— righteous, justified. It is this faith that 
brings you into line of succession with 
him. (Here, as so often in N. T. the 
point is not so striking in English, with 
its faith and believe, as in Greek, with its 
noun and verb cognate, Trtcms, vLdTevu}). 
As Abraham believed (had faith in) 
God, and it was counted to him for (not 
" instead of," but as the practical equivalent 
for) righteousness. Scripture, no less 
than experience (vv. 1-5) should have 
taught the Galatians the folly of resting 
on legal righteousness. This ancient text 
(Gen. XV. 6) suited Paul's purpose re- 
markably well, and he here uses it very 
effectively (cf. Rom. iv. 3), reading, of 
course, much more into it than it orig- 
inally contained. In the immediate context 
of (jenesis, Abraham's faith is simply in 
the divine promise of a numerous pos- 
terity; the Hebrew tense, however, im- 



plies the habitual exercise of such a faith, 
and suggests a wider than the merely 
contextual application — general trust in 
the voice which speaks or calls from the 
unseen (Gen. xii., xxii.). Even, then, 
however, it is far removed from being 
the faith for whose finality Paul is here 
arguing — that faith in Christ crucified 
which abolishes the righteousness which 
is of the law. In his usual manner, Paul 
cites the text, and applies it, somewhat as 
we do " motto "-texts, without regard to 
the original context. This verse forms the 
connecting link between the preceding sec- 
tion and the following. Faith, righteous- 
ness (or justification), and the divinely 
established relation that subsists between 
them — these are the thoughts that echo 
throughout the following section. 



Salvation by Faith, A'ot by the Law: For 

the Law Brings the Curse 

(iii. 7-14). 

7. Paul's Judaizing opponents no doubt 
often quoted among the Galatians, with 
great force and unction, the promise that 
in Abraham and in his seed all the nations 
of the earth would be blessed. They 
would interpret that to mean that only 
in virtue of their connection wath the 
Jews could the Gentiles hope to share in 
those promises, and that connection could 
only be completely secured by adopting 
the usages distinctive of Judaism, espe- 
cially circumcision. The argument was 
very plausible, but Paul has already de- 
molished it by anticipation in suggesting 
that the thing distinctive of Abraham was 
not his circumcision etc., but his faith. 
It was faith that made him what he was, 
accepted and rigJiteous in the sight of God, 
and you perceive, then — the apostle con- 
tinue;? with a touch of " argumentative 
irony" (though the word may be taken 
as imperative — Jowzv yc) — that it is men 
of faith, men whose spiritual life springs 
from (€k) faith, these, and no others, who 
are sons of Abraham. At a single stroke, 
Paul cleaves the Jewish prerogative asun- 
der. He accepts the appeal of his oppo- 
nents to Abraham, and then triumphantly 
shows from the Scriptures they acknowl- 
edge, that this appeal destroys their case. 



Ch. Ill] 



GALATIANS. 



239 



8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that 
God would justify the heathen through, 
faith, preached before the gospel unto 
Abraham, saying. In thee shall all nations 
"be blessed. 

9 So then they which be of faith are 
blessed with faithful Abraham. 

ID For as many as are of the works of 
the law are under the curse : for it is writ- 



ten, Cursed is every one that continueth 
not in all things which are written in the 
book of the law to do them. 

11 But that no man is justified by the 
law in the sight of God, it is evident : for, 
The just shall live by faith. 

12 And the law is not of faith: but. 
The man that doeth them shall live in 
them. 



and corroborates his own. For that which 
gave Abraham his place as a righteous 
man in the estimate of God, was not any 
keeping of the law, or any distinctive phys- 
ical mark, but simply his faith. The out- 
standing fact about him was not that he 
did something, but that he believed. His 
true children, therefore, are those who be- 
lieve — ol e/c iri(TT€OJs, rnen of faith. This 
is an exceedingly daring and original ut- 
terance, which cuts to the very heart of 
Judaism. 

8, g. And the Scripture — here per- 
sonified — foreseeing that it is in conse- 
quence of (e/c) FAITH, not of works, 
that God justifies the nations, proclaimed 
a gospel in advance (good news before 
the good news which comes in Christ) 
to Abraham; "All the nations shall be 
blessed in thee " — a blend of Gen. xii. 
3, and xviii. i8, the word nations (eOv-n) 
being taken from the latter passage for 
the sake of the argument, which is soon 
to deal more specifically with the Gentiles. 
The blessings are here (though not, of 
course, in Gen.) conceived as those which 
flow from, faith in the crucified Christ — 
justification, the gift of the spirit (ver. 2), 
eternal life. It is in Abraham, not as a 
circumcised man, but as a believer, as at 
once the pattern and the father of the faith- 
ful, that the nations are to be blessed. This 
promise of blessing accruing through 
faith, is, so to speak, a gospel before the 
time ; and the Scripture proclaims it, be- 
cause it foresaw God's plan of justifica- 
tion by faith. Consequently it is the men 
of FAITH, and not of works, who are 
blessed with the FAITHFUL Abraham 
— ^they share {(tvv) his blessing: and 
these men of faith may be found in any 
nation. 

10. If men are justified by faith, then 
the law is superfluous. But more, it is 
positively deadly. For no one can keep 
it perfectly, yet upon those who do not 
keep it in every jot or title, it pronounces 
a curse. For all who are depending, for 
their relationship to God, upon doing the 
deeds of the law, are under a CURSE — 
such a curse as Christ was on the cross 



(ver. 13) ; for " CURSED " says the 
Scripture (Deut. xxvii. 26), "is every 
one who does not continue in ALL 
things that are written in the book of the 
law, to do them. (Every one and all are 
in the Septuagint, but not in the original 
Hebrew.) The implication is that no one 
has perfectly fulfilled the whole law, 
therefore all are under the curse. That 
is all that the law can do — lay us under 
a curse. 

II, 12. The impossibility of justification 
by law is still further proved by Scripture 
quotations. Now that within the sphere 
of {^v) the law (or, perhaps, more simply, 
by means of the LAW), no man is 
justified in the sight of God, is clear, 
for — Scripture settles this point — the 
righteous shall live by FAITH (Hab. 
ii. 4) ; or, for the sake of the argument, 
Paul may intend these words to mean 
"_He who is righteous by faith, he whose 
righteousness is rooted in faith (not in 
works), shall live," — the emphasis being 
not so much upon the source of his life 
as upon the source of his righteousness. 
It is very probable that the two meanings 
are blended, for in either case, life is 
held up as the destiny of such a man, 
as the issue of a righteousness springing 
from faith — as opposed to the curse 
which is the issue of an attempted, but 
necessarily unsuccessful obedience to the 
law. Here, as in ver. 6, Paul uses the 
O. T. text as a motto and without regard 
to its original context. Habakkuk (about 
600 B.C.) means that in the political and 
moral confusion caused by the Chaldean 
invasion, "the just shall live by his faith- 
fulness," by steadfastly trusting to Jehovah. 
Paul takes the Septuagint word TrtVrts 
which inadequately renders the Hebrew 
word for " faithfulness " and gives it, as 
in ver. 6 he gave the word " believe," the 
specific meaning which he puts through- 
out the whole of his argument into these , 
words — faith in the finished work of 
Christ as opposed to works of legal right- 
eousness. It is faith that confers right- 
eousness and life; faith, however, is not 
the principle (or starting point, e/c) of 



240 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. Ill 



13 Christ hath redeemed us from the 
curse of the law, being made a curse for 
us : for it is written, Cursed is every one 
that hangeth on a tree : 

14 That the blessing of Abraham might 
come on the Gentiles through Jesus 



Christ ; that we might receive the promise 
of the Spirit through faith. 

15 Brethren, I speak after the manner 
of men; Though it be but a man's cov- 
enant, yet if it be confirmed, no man dis- 
annulleth, or addeth thereto. 



the law; but, on the contrary, it is he 
who has DONE the things prescribed, 
that shall live in or by them — another 
quotation (Lev. xviii. 5). What the law 
demands, as a condition of life, is not 
faith, but action; and this, as we have 
seen, can never be perfectly fulfilled. So 
there is no hope that way. Righteousness 
in the sight of God can come only by 
way of faith; and the law can do nothing 
but involve us in the curse. 

13. But CHRIST bought us out, as 
a man ransoms a slave, from the curse 
of the law, paying the price, which was 
death, to the law itself — the contrast be- 
tween the deadly power of the law and 
the redemptive power of Christ is very 
striking. This "buying out," was effected 
by His becoming not simply accursed, but 
more vividly a curse (as if He embodied 
it ; cf. the very similar use of sin in 2 
Cor. V. 21) for us. Though the words 
mean literally " on our behalf " rather 
than " in our stead," it is plain that a 
vicarious idea is involved ; He took upon 
Himself the curse which ought to have 
fallen upon us for our failure to keep the 
law. The proof that Christ on the cross 
was accursed is again characteristically 
sought in Scripture; and characteristically, 
too (cf. vv. 6, 11) the application of the 
quoted text is very different from its orig- 
inal meaning. For Scripture says, 
" Cursed is every one who hangs upon 
a tree." Paul intentionally refrains from 
applying to Christ the words of the orig- 
inal, " cursed of God." In Deut. xxi. 23, 
it is prescribed that the body of a male- 
factor who, after execution, was hung, as 
an additional disgrace, upon a tree, must 
be taken down before night-fall for the 
reason assigned. Here it is applied to 
Christ who died by hanging on a tree. 

14. Two reasons are assigned for the 
redemptive death of Christ ; Urstly, that 
not only upon the Jews, but upon the 
Gentiles might come the blessing of 
Abraham (ver. 8) through the redemp- 
tion accomplished in Jesus Christ; and 
secondly, that we Christians, Jews and 
Gentiles alike, might receive the promise 
of {i.e. consisting in) the spirit through 
faith. Faith's response to the cross is 
followed by the gift of the spirit (cf. ver. 



2). The blessing comes through faith 
alone, and it is for Gentiles as well as 
Jews. These two points sum up the argu- 
ment of the paragraph, which is effectively 
closed by the word faith. 



The Relation of the Laiv to the Promise 
(iii. 15-29). 

(a) The Law Neither Annuls Nor Supple- 
ments the Promise (iii. 15-18). 

The previous discussion had shown that 
the " blessing of Abraham " was to be 
conferred upon his true sons ; but these 
were men of faith, not many whose right- 
eousness was of the law. The question 
might then well be asked by a Jew — it 
is asked in ver. 19 — "What, then, is the 
function of the law ? " At any rate, an- 
swers Paul, its function is not to annul or 
supplement the promise ; that stands. 

15. The intensity of the feeling with 
which Paul had begun his argument with 
the " foolish " Galatians, has now some- 
what diminished. He addresses them af- 
fectionately as brethren, and proceeds to 
illustrate the relation of the law to the 
promise by a human analogy. I speak of 
the divine promise, and of its inviolability 
by any subsequent incident or institution 
such as the law, after a human fashion. 
Note the echo of the word ;;/(/;/ at the be- 
ginning of the next sentence ; I speak in the 
manner of a man; though it be a man's 
dLa9r]K7j, In Hebrews ix. 15-17 this word 
means " will " or " testament," and the 
reference to the inheritance (ver. 18) 
shows that something of that meaning 
clings about the word here. As, however, 
the " death of the testator " cannot be in 
question here, the testator being, in the 
analogy, God Himself, it is better to give 
to diaOrjKr] the larger meaning of " legal 
disposition." If a MAN'S agreement has 
been properly ratified, notwithstanding 
that it is a human agrocniont, no one 
annuls or supplements it; and if a man's 
agreement be inviolable, how much more 
God's ! — an argument all the more cogent, 
as diadr}Kri is the word used in the Septu- 
gint for God's (gracious) covenant with 
His people. Paul's opponents did not of 



Ch. Ill] 



GALATIANS. 



241 



i6 Now to Abraham and his seed were 
the promises made. He saith not, And to 
seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to 
thy seed, which is Christ. 

17 And this I say, that the covenant 
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, 
the law, which was four hundred and 



thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it 
should make the promise of none efifect. 

18 For if the inheritance be of the law, 
it is no more of promise : but God gave it 
to Abraham by promise. 

19 Wherefore then serveth the law? 
It was added because of transgressions, till 



course suppose that the law annulled the 
promise, but only that it supplemented it; 
obedience to the law " completed " the 
work of salvation (ver. 3). But a properly 
ratified agreement — even of man, much 
more of God — neither needs nor permits 
such a supplement. 

16. Before applying his human analogy 
to the case in hand (ver. 17), Paul turns 
aside for a moment to prove that the real 
heir of the ancient promise is Christ, not 
the Jews. He does this by emphasizing the 
singular word " seed." Now to Abraham 
the promises (plural, because made sev- 
eral times, Gen. xii. 7, xv. 5, etc.) were 
spoken " and to his SEED '* (cf. Gen. 
xiii. 15. xvii. 8) ; the words are not; "and 
to SEEDS," as of many, but as of one: 
"and to thy SEED," which is Christ. 
This argument fails to carry conviction to 
a modern reader, and seems to savor of 
Rabbinical methods of interpretation (cf. 
I Cor. ix. 9). It is true that the word 
" seed " can be used of an individual ; but 
in the much more numerous cases in 
which it is used collectively for descendants, 
it is always the singular word (alike in 
Greek and Hebrew), never the plural, that 
is used in the Old Testament. Thus the 
inference from the use of the singular in 
the passage quoted, is irrelevant. The 
sing, might refer to an individual, but not 
necessarily, and, in point of fact, not pos- 
sibly, in the passages quoted ; it is pos- 
session of the land of Canaan that is prom- 
ised, and that naturally to Abraham's de- 
scendants. In other words, the original 
passage has the very meaning which Paul 
denies to it. The interesting thing is, how- 
ever, that elsewhere Paul adopts the word 
seed in its natural collective sense (ver. 
29, Rom. iv. 16). It is possible that, in 
this Rabbinical exegesis, Paul is simply 
assailing his opponents with their own 
weapons. The main argument, which is in 
no way affected by this parenthetic verse, 
is resumed in ver. 17. 

17. This is what I mean: an agree- 
ment which stands ratified (pf. ptc. to 
express its permanence) in advance by 
God (he means the promise to Abraham) 
— not of _ course ratified independently of 
the promise, but by the mere fact that 



God has made it — the law which dates 
four hundred and thirty years after it 
can (lit. does) not invalidate, so as to 
do away with the promise. If a human 
agreement stands, how much more a di- 
vine agreement; the divine promise or 
covenant cannot be invalidated by the law 
which it antedated by more than four 
centuries. __ According to the Hebrew text 
Exodus xii. 40, this period represents only 
the time of Israel's sojourn in Egypt; but 
in the Greek and Samaritan versions, it 
includes their sojourn "in the land of 
Canaan," and thus goes back to the time 
of Abraham. Paul, as frequently, follows 
the Greek. The argument is unaffected 
by the chronology; the point is that the 
divine purpose revealed in the promise 
cannot Tdc invalidated by the legal system 
which came long afterzvards. The phrase 
eis XpLffTop (unto Christ) which ought 
(with the best MSS.) to be omitted, is 
correct as an interpretation ; the promise 
to Abraham had Christ in view. 

18. The Judaizing party were trying to 
combine promise and law, to " add " the 
law to the promise. But compromise is 
impossible, the two things are naturally 
exclusive. For if the inheritance — the 
" blessing of Abraham " (ver. 14) spir- 
itually interpreted — depends upon ob- 
serving the law, it no longer depends 
upon the promise, whereas no less an one 
than God Himself (0 Qeos emphatic at 
end) gave (it) to Abraham by way of 
PROMISE as a free (x^pis) and perma- 
nent (perf. tense) gift. It is a gift of His 
grace, not a reward for the observance of 
the law, a gift which can not be inval- 
idated (perf.) and behind which is the un- 
changeable God. 

Whatever, therefore, the law may mean, 
it cannot mean the abolition or the im- 
perfection of the promise. That gracious 
promise remains through all history un- 
alterable, as it embodies the deepest pur- 
pose of God. 



(b) The Function of the Law (iii. 19-22). 

ig. The natural impression made upon 
the mind by the sharp contrast between 



242 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. Ill 



the seed should come to whom the promise 
was made ; and it was ordained by the 
angels in the hand of a mediator. 



20 Now a mediator is not a mediator 
of one, but God is one. 

21 Is the law then against the promises 



the law and the promise was that Paul 
practically rejected the law, as playing no 
integral part in the divine economy of his- 
tory, and this impression finds voice in the 
question : What, then, is the function of 
the law? Though a very different thing 
from the promise, it has on Paul's scheme 
a most important function ; it was added 

— this expresses its adventitious character 

— because of the {tCjv) transgressions 
which it brought to light. The discussion 
in Romans (cf. v. 20; vii. 7-13) shows 
that this phrase is not intended to mean 
that the law was given to punish sin, or 
to restrain it, but to show it in its_ true 
light, to show the real nature of sin as 
transgression, i.e. as a breach of the law. 
By making sin appear more terrible, it 
made escape by some other means (by the 
promise, cf. ver. 22) appear more impera- 
tive. Such an estimate of the law, that 
"it was added for transgressions" would 
be doubly provoking to Paul's Jewish op- 
ponents, to whom the law itself was, on 
the one hand, a gift of God's grace; and, 
on the other hand, it was eternal. Here 
Paul regards it as brought in long after 
the promise, and of vahdity only until the 
seed that is, Christ (ver. 16) should 
come to whom the promise has been 
made — vahd till the coming of Christ, 
and, now that He has come, invalid. 
Another element in Paul's criticism of the 
law is that it was ordained through an- 
gels and in the hand of a mediator, viz. 
Moses, who "stood bctzueen (ava fieeop) 
the Lord and the people" (Deut. v. 5). 
Following a hint in Deut. xxxiii. 2 ("ten 
thousands of holy ones," where perhaps 
the true reading is simply Meribath-Ka- 
desh) later Jewish ■ theology, in its desire 
to glorify the law, maintained that angels 
had accompanied and assisted at its de- 
livery. Traces of this idea are also to be 
found in Acts vii. 53, and Heb. ii. 2; 
the former passage clearly designed to 
suggest the dignity and glory of the law ; 
the latter, contrasting the word spoken 
through angels with that greater word 
spoken through the Lord. Paul's refer- 
ence is more in the spirit of the latter 
passage. The angels were at best inter- 
mediaries ; the law ordained through them 
was surely inferior to the promise given 
directly and without mediation by God 
Himself. Besides the angels the law 
came in the hand of a human mediator; 



there may be, but is not necessarily, a 
reference to the tablets which Moses had 
in his hands — the words may simply be an 
imitation of a Semitic construction (cf. 
Hag. i. i), and:= by a mediator. The posi- 
tion of Moses, as mediator between God 
and man, is one of the highest honor; but 
the dispensation to which a mediator is nec- 
essary, can not be so noble as that in 
which God speaks, as to Abraham in the 
patriarchal period, face to face. See the 
fine contrast in 2 Cor. iii. 12-18 between 
the indirectness of the ]^Iosaic dispensa- 
tion and the directness of the Christian. 

20. This brief verse, whose words and 
construction are as simple as they can be, 
has given rise to as much discussion as 
any verse in the New Testament. Now a 
(lit. the) mediator is not of one, but 
(or and) God is one. The context makes 
some points reasonably clear. The media- 
tor e.g. must here be the same as in ver. 
19, and the reference of the first clause of 
ver. 20 will be to the law which was 
mediated by Moses between God^ and 
Israel, i.e. between two, for " there is no 
mediator for one" — mediation implies 
duality. The next point is this: the w^hole 
context, and especially the beginning of 
the next verse (21), exhibits the law as 
contrasted with (and apparently — though, 
as ver. 21 argues, not really — opposed to) 
the promise. It seems altogether probable, 
therefore, that this contrast is expressed 
in the enigmatic verse we are considering. 
But we have already seen that the first 
clause refers to the law ; is it not reason- 
able, then, to suppose that the second 
clause — "but God is one" — refers to the 
promise. In the context, this would not 
require to be brought into connection, as 
is often done, with the famous words of 
Deut. vi. 4 which are at the root of 
Hebrew religion, " The Lord our God is 
one Lord " ; the clause would mean sirn- 
ply; "God in the promise, i.e. in His 
dealings with Abraham, in the patriarchal 
as contrasted with the legal dispensation, 
is one; that is, does not avail Himself of 
a mediator, but speaks directly and face 
to face." The verse would then pithily ex- 
press the contrast elaborated in the con- 
text between the law and the promise, the 
mediatorial speech of Moses and the direct 
speech of God, the contrast bet\veen the 
veiled and the open face (2 Cor. iii). 

21. Paul's discussion of the law seems 



Ch. Ill] 



GALATIANS. 



243 



of God? God forbid: for if there had 
been a law given which could have given 
life, verily righteousness should have been 
by the law. 

22 But the Scripture hath concluded 
all under sin, that the promise by faith of 
Jesus Christ might be given to them that 
beheve. 



23 But before faith came, we were kept 
under the law, shut up unto the faith 
which should afterwards be revealed. 

24 Wherefore the law was our school- 
master to bring us unto Christ, that we 
might be justified by faith. 

25 But after that faith is come, we are 
no longer under a schoolmaster. 



to amount to a virtual indictment of it. 
Verse 19 shows that that was not his in- 
tention; it served the valuable end of re- 
vealing sin as transgression. Yet, as ver. 19 
proceeded, the description almost involun- 
tarily became relatively depreciatory : it 
was a later addition, not part of God's 
ultimate and original purpose, it was tem- 
porary, not eternal, it was mediated by 
angels and a man, not direct from God 
Himself. One ■ might naturally ask 
whether, after all, the contrast was not 
absolute : is, then, the lav^^ OPPOSED to 
the promises (of God)? But this sug- 
gestion, natural and logical as it might 
seem, is repudiated with vehemence ; a 
thousand times No (lit. may it not hap- 
pen cf. ii. 17). The functions of law and 
promise were different, but not contra- 
dictory. With the promise is associated 
life, but not with iht law ; as we have 
seen, it cannot be kept, therefore it brings 
not hfe, but a curse (ver. 10). For if a 
law had been given such as could create 
in those who tried to keep it, moral, spiritual, 
eternal life, then, as a matter of fact, 
the law would really be the source of 
(e/c; if ev, sphere of) that righteousness 
which is the guarantee of life (ver. 11), 
But, however his opponents might regard 
the law as a source of life, there was no 
life in it for Paul. The Scripture (per- 
sonified, cf. ver. 8) — whether some par- 
ticular scripture, such as Deut. xxvii. 26, 
quoted in ver. 10, or less probably, the 
Old Testament Scriptures in general (see 
a collection of passages in Rom. iii. lo- 
18) — shut up the whole of mankind, as 
in a prison, under the dominion of sin, by 
creating the consciousness of it as trans- 
gression (ver. 19) ; and the divine intention 
in reducing- men to this state of imprison- 
ment without means of escape by way of the 
law, was that, on the basis — not of obe- 
dience to the law, which obedience, seeing 
that we are under sin, is impossible, but — 
of faith in Jesus Christ, THE PROMISE 
might be given, not as a reward of works, 
but as a free gift, to men of FAITH 
{those who believe). This paragraph, like 
vv. 7-14, strikingly ends with an emphasis 
(here twice reoeated, iricTews, iriffTevovaiv) 



upon faith. This it is which sets free 
those who have been hving in the prison- 
house of the law, and brings them out 
into the realization of the promises. 

(c)The Abolition of the Law and the Gift 

of Sonship Through Faith in Jesus 

Christ (iii. 23-29). 

The law represented a long and dreary 
period between Abraham, to whom the 
promise was given, and Christ, in whom 
it was fulfilled. Christ ushers men into 
a new world, out of prison into the lib- 
erty of sonship. He inaugurates a new 
era, divides history in two — the period 
"before faith (in Him) had come" (ver. 
22,) and "after faith had come" (ver. 
25). The coming of Christ and, with 
Him, of the faith which was directed to 
Him, made a difference that was no less 
than revolutionary, not only to the indi- 
vidual man and his relation to God, but 
also to society; for in Him all national 
and class distinctions vanish (ver. 28). 

23. Now before the coming of this 
faith in Jesus Christ (ver. 22) {the faith 
just mentioned; not faith in general, for 
Abraham, ver. 6, and many others, ver. 
II, had that; still less the objective Chris- 
tian faith), we Jews were all the time 
(impf.) kept under the vigilant guard of 
(the) law, which prevented our escape 
(the word is the same as that used for 
the guard which was kept over the city 
of Damascus to prevent Paul's escape, 2 
Cor. xi. 2,2) being continually (pres. ptc.) 
shut up (same word as in ver. 22) under 
the domination of sin. The law watched 
them like prisoners, but, in the divine pur- 
pose, ultimately with a view to the faith 
in Jesus Christ which was one day to be 
revealed. At, but not before. His coming, 
deliverance became possible ; and to faith, 
to those who believed on Him — actual. 

24, 25. The figure by which the law is 
described changes from prison to peda- 
gogue, but the idea remains much the 
same, consequently the law has become 
(perf. : that is its permanent function) 
our slave attendant (to bring us) to 



244 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. Ill 



26 For ye are all the children of God 
by faith in Christ Jesus. 

27 For as many of you as have been 
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, 
there is neith^ bond nor free, there is 



neither male nor female : for ye are all one 
in Christ Jesus. 

29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye 
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to 
the promise. 



Christ. Schoolmaster (A. V.) is far from 
conveying the idea of iroAdayojyos, and 
tutor (A. R. V.) is little," if at all, better. 
The " pedagogue " was, etymologically, the 
slave who took the boy to school and 
brought him home again ; and this has 
given rise to the interpretation that, the 
law is here regarded as bringing men to 
the school of Christ. But Christ is not 
here regarded as a teacher or school- 
master; rather in Him men are sons of 
God, mature and free. The explanation 
of the figure is rather to be sought in 
the fact that the pccdagogus who took 
the boy to school, had a certain super- 
vision of his conduct, of his external dis- 
cipline, " accompanying him everywhere 
with commands and prohibitions, and keep- 
ing him in a condition of dependence and 
restraint." In the context, the law is not 
conceived as an inner preparation for the 
gospel : it is a prison, and can at best only 
create a longing for escape, as the boy 
might long for his maturer years, when 
he would escape from the yoke of his 
psedagogus. In this sense the discipline 
of the law points to Christ, as that of the 
pedagogue points to later years of free- 
dom. It is not by anything that the law 
can do that men are justified, but only 
by Christ and faith in Him. So, after 
centuries of " pedagogical " discipline, 
"God sent His Son" (iv. 4), that we 
might be justified on the basis of 
FAITH. And now that faith {the faith 
in Christ, ver. 23) has come, we are no 
longer like boys under their slave-at- 
tendant, but we are free and full grown 
sons. These two verses are really a piece 
of autobiogranhy. Paul knew, as only a 
man of passionate sincerity and fervent 
desire for God and goodness could know, 
the bondage of the legal system in which 
he had been trained, and which he had 
vainly tried to keep; and it is this sense 
of bondap^e tliat gives such a sense of 
glad exhilaration to his profession of 
liberty ; " We are no longer under a 
p.-edagogus." The restraint of the peda- 
gogue, the despair of the prison, had been 
banished forever by that faith in Jesus 
Christ, which had made him a son of God, 
and not only him, but all the Galatians 
who believe in Christ Jesus; for this son- 



ship is conferred upon faith, upon the 
spiritual, and not the natural seed of 
Abraham. 

26, 27. For you Galatians, whether 
Jews or Gentiles, are ALL — no longer 
children, under the " pedagog>' " of the 
law, but — SONS OF GOD, having be- 
come so through faith in Christ Jesus. 
It is very difficult to decide whether " in 
Christ Jesus" goes with "faith" (A. V.), 
or with " ye are sons of God " (A. R. V.) ; 
the latter would mean " In fellowship, 
union with {^v) Christ, who is the Son 
of God (iv. 4), you are also sons of God, 
through faith." Faith lifts all, without ex- 
ception, into the wonderful liberty of 
sonship: why then wnll the Galatians go 
back again to the prison ? They are 
sons; for in the baptism, which signalized 
and sealed their admission into the Chris- 
tian community, they were mysteriously 
united to, or, more graphically, invested 
ivith, Christ, the Son. They had put 
Him on, as a garment ; so that the ap- 
pearance they now wear before God is 
the same as His — that of a son. For 
all of you who were baptized unto 
Christ — this was the oldest baptismal 
formula, cf. Rom. vi. 3 ; or '' unto the 
name of Christ" (Acts xix. 5); or "in 
the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts ii. 38) 
— put on Christ: note the emphatic repe- 
tition of Christ. 

28, 29. This sonship to God in Christ 
creates an essential equality among all 
who share it. Having put on Christ, dis- 
tinctions of nationality, class, sex, disap- 
pear ; or at least, are as if they were not. 
They may form part of the inevitable 
constitution of human society, but among 
Christian men, these dififerenccs do not 
count ; for despite them, all are one. 
There is neither Jew nor Greek — this 
distinction upon which Paul's opponents 
insisted, in their attempts to impose the 
observance of the Jewish law upon the 
Gentiles, simply docs not exist ; mentioned 
here first perhaps, as this was the matter 
chiefly under dispute. These words are 
written out of the apostle's very soul. 
As a fanatical Pharisee, he had drawn 
this very distinction between Jew and 
Greek which he now sees to have no mean- 
ing in Christ, and which he repudiates 



Ch. IV] 



GALATIANS. 



245 



CHAPTER 4. 

I Now I say, That the heir, as long as 
he is a child differeth nothing from a ser- 
vant, though he be lord of all ; 



2 But is under tutors and governors 
until the time appointed of the father. 

3 Even so we, when we were children,, 
were in bondage under the elements of the 
world : 



with all his heart, and with this distinc- 
tion goes every other which separates man 
from man. There is neither slave nor 
free man, there is no male and female. 

Christianity did not attempt directly to 
affect the status of slaves (cf. i Cor. vii. 
21) and women, but it ideally abolished 
the distinction between slave and free man, 
man and woman, and it was only a ques- 
tion of time till the idea would leaven 
and transform society. For YOU who 
have put on Christ are all, whether Jew 
or Greek, bond_ or free, man or woman, 
one person (ets, masc, not simply an 
abstract unity) in Christ Jesus. Your 
unity is in Him ; in Him all the artificial 
distinctions between the individuals of 
which the unity is composed are abohshed, 
so that in Him they constitute one per- 
son. And if ycu are Christ's, i.e. be- 
long to Christ — but there is truth in the 
remark of Lightfoot that " the argument 
turns on the entire identity of the Chris- 
tian brotherhood with Christ," and that 
we should therefore perhaps translate, 
"If you are members of Christ" — then 
you are Abraham's seed, for Christ, as 
we saw, is Abraham's seed (ver. 16) ; 
and if Abraham's seed, then his heirs, not 
indeed by law, but, infinitely better, by 
promise. Whether Jews' or not, if they 
were Christ's, they were full heirs to the 
promises, and hence the "folly" (ver. i) 
of attempting to crown and " complete " 
(ver. 3) their salvation by taking upon 
themselves the yoke of the law. They 
are no longer under its " pedagogy," they 
are heirs. 



The Fulness of the Time (iv. 1-7). 

The word heir just used (iii. 29) gives 
a new turn to the figure. An heir has 
not thQ full privileges of sonship, until he 
has attained his majority, or more strictly, 
until he has reached the time appointed 
by his father ; till then he and his prop- 
erty are under control, and, in this respect 
at least, his position is no better than 
that of a slave. And, as with the indi- 
vidual, so with humanity at large. It too 
has its minority, and its time appointed 
by the Father for entering upon the in- 
heritance. That hour struck when ** God 



sent forth His son " ; before that was the 
period of its infancy — for the Jew a 
period of subjection to the law, for the 
Gentile, of subjection to idolatry; for 
both, in some sense, of bondage to the 
elements of the world. Through the com- 
ing of the Son, sonship for man becomes 
a possibility; and those who, by faith in 
and mystic union with the Son, themselves 
become sons, enter forthwith upon their 
spiritual inheritance. Thus, though the 
figure is different, the general view of his- 
tory which it yields is the same as was 
yielded by the figure of the law as a ped- 
agogue. 

I, 2. Now what I would say is this, 
that as long as an {the; cf. iii. 20) heir 
is a minor (lit. in-fant), he differs in no 
respect from a slave — at any rate in 
respect of his being able to exercise legal 
responsibility and to control his own prop- 
erty — though he is, whether essentially 
or prospectively, lord of all. The point 
has been keenly discussed whether the 
father is to be regarded as living or dead, 
but it is of no importance to the argu- 
ment, which is simply concerned with the 
radical difference between the period of 
legal infancy and the period which suc- 
ceeds it. But he is under men who have 
legal charge of his person and property, 
until the day set by the father. Paul has 
probably in view some local or provincial 
usage, by which the date of entering upon 
an inheritance depended not upon the 
youth's attaining a particular age, but 
upon the will of his father. 

3. So we also, Jews and Gentiles alike, 
have had a similar period of *' infancy " 
and " bondage." "When we were minors, 
we were under the elements of the 
world enslaved. The general nature of 
the bondage is tolerably clear from the 
scope of the argument and from the com- 
parison in iii. 24 of the law to a pseda- 
gogus, but its particular nature depends 
upon the meaning of the phrase the ele- 
ments of the zvorld, and this is very hard 
to determine. The word rendered " ele- 
ments " can mean letters of the alphabet, 
and came to be applied in the sense of 
elementary principles, e.g. of a branch of 
knowledge. But if this be the meaning 
here ; it is difficult to assign a suitable 
meaning to the word world. To render it 



246 



GALATIANS. 



[Cn. IV 



4 But when the fnhiess of the time was 
come, God sent forth his Son, made of a 
woman, made under the law, 



5 To redeem them that were under the 
law, that we m.ight receive the adoption of 



*' belonging to the unspiritual outer world," 
and refer these " elementary lessons of 
outward things " to the enactments of the 
law (cf. ver. lo) does not seem very con- 
vincing, though this view receives a cer- 
tain corroboration through the association 
of " the elements of the world " in Col. 
ii. 8, 20-22 with the " tradition, command- 
ments and teachings of men." The true 
starting-point for the discussion is ver. 9. 
It is natural to suppose that the " elements " 
there are the same as those of this verse, 
and there, in their context, they seem to 
be equivalent to the gods which the Gala- 
tians had worshipped, — mentioned in the 
previous verse. In that case, elements 
may be taken literally, as the great ele- 
ments out of which the world is com- 
posed — a meaning which the word often 
has. Or more narrowly, perhaps those 
elements were the heavenly bodies — a 
very frequent object of worship in the 
East ; and there may be a hint of this in 
the observance of the seasons (referred to 
in ver. 'lo) which was determined by 
those bodies. Deut. iv. 19 represents the 
curious belief that the God of Israel had 
actually assigned the heavenly bodies to 
the heathen nations to worship. The 
great difficulty on this view is to see the 
relevance of the passage to the Jews : for 
when he says " we were enslaved," even 
if the reference is not exclusively to the 
Jews, as some suppose, they must at least 
be included. Perhaps the most plausible 
explanation of it, is that the observance 
of sacred days and seasons, which was a 
characteristic feature of Judaism (ver. 10) 
was practically on the same level as star- 
worship (ver. 9) ; or, in other words, was 
" bondage to the elements of the world." 
In any case, Paul's Judaizing opponents 
must have winced to hear the legal dis- 
pensation compared to slavery, and those 
who lived under it, to slaves. The Jews 
prided themselves on being sons. Paul's 
argument is that there can be no full 
sonship until the Son comes into the 
world, or rather is sent by the Father. 
^ 4, 5. But when the fulness of the 
time came, i.e. the day appointed by the 
Father (ver. 2), God sent forth out of 
the heavenly world in which lie had been 
living — for the pre-existence of Christ is 
here implied (cf. 2 Cor. viii. 9) — His 
Son. It is tempting to read modern ideas 
of religious evolution, or at least of 



Judaism as a direct preparation for Chris- 
tianity, into the great phrase the fulness 
of the time; but that is hardly Paul's 
meaning. For the Jews, the time' preced- 
ing the advent of Christ was filled up by 
the law, whose function, as we have seen, 
was to impart to sin the character of 
transgression (iii. 19). The day appointed 
by the Father for the sending of His 
Son was the day when the law had fully 
done its work (cf. Rom. v. 20) and the 
need of salvation was sorest. As a Greek 
father says, " When human nature, hav- 
ing run through every kind of wickedness, 
was in need of healing"; and Chrysostom, 
" When men were most ready to perish, 
then they were saved." Thus history, 
though not from this point of view an 
evolution, was yet inspired by a divine 
purpose. That saving purpose for men 
had to be wrought out through One who 
shared the common lot of humanity, in 
being born, like all men (Job xiv. i) 
of a woman — there is no reference here 
to the virgin birth; it is Christ's likeness 
to other men that is suggested by the 
phrase — and born, like all Jews, under 
(the) law. Though it is convenient to 
translate the word yeu6/j.€uov by born, it 
really rather means " having become," and 
points very graphically (note the repeti- 
tion) to the transition from His heavenly 
to His earthly existence. He came into 
the experience of human frailty and 
(Jewish) subordination to ordinances; 
and the divine reason (tVa) that prompted 
His coming, or rather that prompted God 
in sending Him, was to secure the re- 
demption of those who were subject to 
this frailty and subordination — to buy 
out from the dominion of the law those 
who were under it. and to confer sonship 
upon those who had l)ccn but as slaves 
before; that he might buy out, as He 
did by His death on the cross, in virtue 
of which He became a curse (cf. iii. 13), 
those (primarily. Jews) who were under 
the law, that (subordinate to the last 
clause, not co-ordinate ; the " buying out 
from the curse " necessarily precedes the 
gift of sonship) we, Jews and Gentiles 
alike, might receive the adoption, i.e. 
be accepted as His sons. He is tlic Son, 
we are adopted, but by adoption we too 
become real sons (vv. 6. 7). The two 
clauses beginning with that ('"a) corre- 
spond to the two phrases beginning with 



Ch. IY] 



GALATIANS. 



247 



6 And because ye are sons, God hath 
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your 
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 

7 Wherefore thou art no more a ser- 
vant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir 
of God through Christ. 

8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not 



God, ye did service unto them which by 
nature are no gods. 

9 But now^ after that ye have known 
God, or rather are known of God, how 
turn ye again to the weak and beggarly 
elements, whereunto ye desire again to be 
in bondage? 



born (yevofjievov) — in inverted order. By 
Himself becoming a son of man, He makes 
it possible for men to become sons of 
God; by Himself being" under the law, 
He is able to buy out those who are 
under it. 

6. That this sonship is no theory, but 
a fact, is proved by the presence in their 
hearts of the spirit, which impels them 
to cry Father! (cf. Rom. viii. 15 f.). This 
is the spirit of sonship, nay it is the spirit 
of the Son Himself. The despatch of the 
Son into history has for its counterpart 
the despatch of the spirit of that Son into 
the individual heart; the very same words 
are used to describe both — God sent 
forth. The spirit of the Son cannot come 
into the hearts of men, until the Son 
Himself has come. And because you Ga- 
latians (in ver. 5, we: he is becoming more 
personal) are sons — their ejaculatory cry 
of Father is at once the effect and the 
proof of their sonship — God sent forth 
the spirit of His son into our (not only 
your: Paul knows well this ecstatic ex- 
perience) hearts, which cries Abba, 
Father. It is the spirit that cries through 
them; in Rom. viii. 15, "we cry." The 
word cry recalls the ecstatic spiritual ex- 
periences alluded to in i Cor. xiv. Ahba 
w^as Jesus' own word (Mark xiv, 2>p)_ \ it 
had been familiar to Aramaic Christians, 
and had passed from them to Greek-speak- 
ing Christians. The sons who used this 
word would feel themselves peculiarly one 
with the Son who had taught them to use 
it. It would be natural for them to add 
to it their own native Greek word, just 
as we might say, " Abba, Father." This 
blending of Greek and Aramaic, in a con- 
text which has been arguing for the aboli- 
tion of the distinction between Jew and 
Greek (iii. 28), is suggestive, though of 
course this is not the reason for the juxta- 
position of the words. 

7. Paul cannot too often impress upon 
his " foolish " Galatians that they are sons. 
They were once — before their Redeemer 
came — no better than slaves, but now 
they are sons. Consequently i.e. since 
God has sent His son and the spirit of 
His son, you, O man (he now directly 
addresses the individual man, cf. ver. 6) 



are no longer a slave, though in your 
observance of the Jewish calendar (ver. 
10) you are behaving like one, but you 
are a son; and if a son, then also an 
heir, not through birth or fidelity to the 
law, as fanatical Jews may fanc}', but 
through God, who in His mercy, through 
Christ, adopted you. The faulty reading 
on which A. V. rests " heirs of God 
through Christ," may rest upon Rom. viii. 
17- 



The Crime of Relapse (iv. 8-11). 

The whole argument has been dominated 
by the contrast between then and now — 
the then of slavery, the now of sonship 
and freedom. There could be nothing 
more foolish (iii. i, 3), nothing more 
tragic, than to go deliberately back from 
liberty to bondage. Yet that is just what 
the Galatians are doing in their anxious 
regard for the festivals of the Jewish 
calendar. They might call it a way of 
perfection, a completion of the work be- 
gun (iii. 3) ; but to Paul it is not the 
completion, but the negation of it. They 
must either be slaves or sons, they can- 
not be both. If they are sons, then they 
must be dead (ii. 19) to those 'Sveak and 
poverty-stricken elements " of rite and 
ceremony. 

8, 9. The contrast between the past 
and the present is forcibly brought out 
by /wej' . . . 5e'. But, sons and heirs as j-ou 
are, how does it come that you have re- 
lapsed? Then indeed in your ignorance 
of God you were enslaved to gods which 
by their nature are no (gods). They 
were not indeed gods; but from i Cor. 
viii. 4 f., x. 19, 20 it may be inferred that 
they may be considered as having some 
kind of real existence. Here they appear 
to be identical with the elements (ver. 
9; see on ver. 3) such service was pa- 
thetic, but it was excusable, because ren- 
dered in ignorance of the true God. But 
now they know better ; they have come to 
know God in Christ; or more strictly — 
and this correction reveals the deeps of 
Paul's religious nature — it is not so 
much that they know God as that He has 



248 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. IV 



10 Ye observe days, and months, and 
times, and years. 

11 I am afraid of you, lest I have be- 
stowed upon you labour in vain. 

12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I 
•am; for I am as ye are: ye have not in- 
jured me at all. 



13 Ye know how through infirmity of 
the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at 
the first. 

14 And my temptation which was in 
my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but 
received me as an angel of God, even as 
Christ Jesus. 



taken knowledge of them, they are known 
•of Him (cf. I Cor. viii. 3) ; their religious 
standing is a gift (cf. iii. 18), not an 
achievement The whole of the epistle to the 
Galatians might be said to be compressed 
into this little corrective phrase — or 
rather known by Him. How is it that, 
having come to knovv- God, or rather 
to be known by God, you are turning 
— the process is going on (cf. i. 6), not 
yet complete — back again to the impo- 
tent and poverty-stricken elements (cf. 
ver. 3) to which you are again desirous 
of enslaving yourselves afresh? Those 
^' elements " were impotent to effect salva- 
tion, no divine riches were attached to 
them, such as were, through God, in Christ 
(i Cor. i. 5). How is such a relapse pos- 
sible? How foolish must the Galatians 
have been! (iii. i). 

10, II. The description of the relapse 
is very suggestive. You are anxiously 
observing (with the same earnestness as. 
that with which the enemies of Jesus ob- 
served Him, Luke xiv. i ; same word) 
special sacred days, such as the Sabbath, 
and months, the festival of the new moon, 
and other festival seasons generally, and 
years, new year's days, or annual festi- 
vals, such as passover, Pentecost. Here 
then is a specimen of the thing which Paul 
fears (ver. 11) ; the passage shows that 
the Jewish agitation had succeeded at 
least in introducing the festivals. The 
significant thing is that Paul puts this 
feature of Judaism practically on a level 
with heathenism ; it is slavery to the " ele- 
ments of the world" (ver. 9) practically 
a worship of false gods (ver. 8). This 
was the element in Judaism which ap- 
proached most closely to the heathen wor- 
ship which they had nominally abandoned, 
and with this the thin end of the Judaizing 
wedge would be driven in ; circumcision, 
etc. would follow (v. 2). How daring 
must the man have been, and how complete 
his emancipation, who could thus speak of 
the system in which he had been trained, 
and regard its sacred observances as prac- 
tical paganism. No wonder that he is 
afraid, as he looks at the relapse, at the 
skill and vigor with which it is promoted 
and encouraged by the Judaizers, at the 



cognate elements in the heathen religion to 
which they can make their subtle appeal, 
and at the ease with which the " foolish " 
Galatians "so quickly change" (i. 6). I 
am afraid for you, lest perhaps all my 
labor upon you has been in vain. 



An Affectionate Appeal (iv. 12-20). 

At this point the argument takes the 
form of a very human appeal. Paul's ar- 
guments are never purely abstract, they 
glow with the intensity of his own re- 
Hgious nature; and his argument in this 
epistle is radiant with the fervor of his 
emancipation from the law, and of his 
sense of redemption and sonship through 
Christ. But here he interrupts it with a 
peculiarly warm and personal message. 
In Paul the pastor and the missionary 
are never lost in the theologian, and here 
he seeks to appeal to the better heart of 
the Galatians by recalling tender mem- 
ories of the afifcction and even reverence 
they had shown him on the occasion of his 
first visit. Those dear relationships had 
been disturbed by the Judaizers, who had 
presented their case with such assiduity 
and plausibility that the Galatians had al- 
most come to look upon Paul as their 
enemy ; and his spiritual travail for them 
has to be begun again. If only he were 
with them face to face, to speak out the 
affectionate anxiety of his heart ! 

12. Become like me, free from the 
yoke of Jewish observance — in the con- 
text that seems to be the only possible 
meaning — for I, a Jew, in ridding myself 
of that yoke (became) like you, who are 
Gentiles ; and the affectionate earnestness 
of the appeal is clenched b}^ the words, 
brethren, I beseech you. 

13, 14. The circumstances of Paul's 
first visit, which he proceeds to recall with 
some detail, were such that the Galatians 
might easily have been led to do him less 
than justice: but you did me no injus- 
tice — far from that. Ihcy gave liim a 
royal welcome. You know that it was 
on account of an illness (lit. weakness 
of the flesh) whicli detained me in Ga- 
latia, that I preached to you the first 



Oh. IV] 



GALATIANS. 



249 



15 Where is then the blessedness ye 
spake of? for I bear you record, that if it 
had been possible, ye would have plucked 



out your own eyes, and have given them to 
me. 

16 Am I therefore become your enemy 
because I tell you the truth? 



time — i.e. on the occasion of my first 
visit. Not " I preached through (in the 
sense of in) infirmity," cf. i Cor. ii. 3, 
but "on account of," 5ta with accus. ; but 
for the divine accident of his illness, he 
would have made no lengthened stay in 
Galatia at all. But though a missionary 
tour through Galatia was no part of his 
plan, and though he was handicapped by 
an infirmity which took an offensive form, 
i.e. though there was much to repel, and 
little to attract the Galatians to Paul, they 
behaved nobly both towards the man and 
his message. And that in my flesh 
which tempted you (your temptation; 
not, with a few MSS. my) to reject me 
with disgust, you did not despise or 
treat with loathing. On the contrary 
you welcomed me like an angel of God 
who brings good tidings ; nay you wel- 
comed me with reverence, like Christ 
Jesus Himself, who is higher than the 
angels (Heb. i. 4). We are left to con- 
jecture what was the infirmity of the 
flesh which might not unreasonably have 
created loathing on the part of those who 
witnessed it; but it seems natural to 
identify it with the thorn of 2 Cor. xii. 
7 (which see). Some have inferred from 
ver. 15 that it was an affection of the 
eyes; but that would hardly fit the strong 
language of this verse. Whatever it was, 
it normally and naturally excited disgust ; 
this is very powerfully suggested by the 
word i^eiTTvaaTe, whether we interpret it 
figuratively or literally ("you did not 
spit out''). In favor of the literal and 
intransitive meaning is the fact that every- 
where else in Greek, this particular com- 
pound of TTTVb} (spit) is used literally: 
this of course might be only accidental, 
as other compounds can be used figura- 
tively. In favor of the figurative mean- 
ing _ is Paul's known habit of re- 
peating the preposition in adjacent com- 
pound words; cf. ii. 4, irapeic — , ii. 13^ 
aw—. If the literal meaning be adopted, 
the implication is that the sickness, what- 
ever it was, was believed to be contagious, 
and spitting was superstitiously supposed 
to be a safe-guard. In either case, it is 
imphed that the appearance of the sufferer 
was pitiable, if not offensive. This would 
suit the theory of epileptic seizure, though 
this theory is also not without grave diffi- 
culties (cf. 2 Cor. xii. 7). The more hu- 



miliating the infirmity, whatever it was 
the more wonderful must Paul appear, 
who, despite this very grave disability, yet 
won for himself and the gospel a people 
on whose attention and gratitude he had 
no peculiar claims. The Galatian recep- 
tion of Paul speaks much for his power 
and for their open-heartedness. 

15. But those days are gone. Where 
now is your exuberant joy in me and 
my message? Lit. "Where is your felici- 
tation, congratulation " (i.e. of your- 
selves) ? Then they counted themselves 
happy to have him among them. For, in 
proof of this, I bear you witness that 
— ^ so_ great was your love for me — if 
possible, you had (= would have: em- 
phatic) torn out your eyes and given 
them to me. If possible; for though 
it was possible to tear them out, it was 
not possible to give them to Paul. This 
passage has led some to suspect that 
Paul's infirmity of the flesh was eye- 
disease. Lipsius, who supposes it to have 
been an affection of the nerves accom- 
panied by attacks of spasms, yet quotes 
Krenkel as remarking that this disease is 
associated with an uncanny rolling and 
sparkhng of the eyes. In corroboration of 
the view that Paul's sight was bad have 
been urged the largeness of his written 
characters (vi. 11) and his inability to 
recognize the high priest at his trial (Acts 
xxiii. 1-5). But it may be doubted 
whether any inference with regard to 
Paul's sight may legitimately be drawn 
from the passage before us. He does not 
say, " you would have given your own 
eyes," (for v/j-wp is not emphatic), but 
simply " your eyes." It seems therefore 
more natural to interpret the phrase in its 
common proverbial sense, as an expres- 
sion for the extreme limit of self-sacri- 
ficing devotion. 

16. So then, to judge by the change in 
your feelings towards me, I have become 
your enemy, have I? simply because I 
told you the truth, in preaching a gospel 
which absolutely abolished all obligation 
to keep the Jewish law ; the truth is the 
truth of the gospel (ii. 5, 14). The "tell- 
ing of the truth," which made Paul ap- 
pear as their enemy, has reference neither 
to this letter, which they had not yet 
read, nor to the first visit, when they 



250 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. IV 



17 They zealously affect you, but not 
well ; yea, they would exclude you, that ye 
might affect them. 

18 But it is good to be zealously af- 
fected always in a good thing, and not 
only when I am present with you. 



19 My little children, of whom I tra- 
vail in birth again until Christ be formed 
in you, 

20 I desire to be present with you now, 
and to change my voice ; for I stand in 
doubt of you. 



had received him with enthusiasm; neces- 
sarily therefore to the second visit. 

17-19. The apostle is concerned only 
with the truth, the Judaizers care only 
for partisan conquests. They (the Ju- 
daizers) are courting you, but not in 
a noble way, for it is not the truth that 
they care for, it is not your true advantage 
that they seek. On the contrary, they 
desire to shut you out — a very com- 
prehensive and suggestive phrase. It is 
not said from what or from whom the 
Judaizers are desirous of excluding the 
deluded Galatians ; from Christ (not in- 
deed deliberately, but that is, in a sense, 
the effect of their actions) ; from the truth; 
from all teaching like Paul's that is op- 
posed to their own ; from the large lib- 
erty of the gospel ; from the Christian 
Church. The very vagueness of the phrase 
is suggestive. Their policy is one of 
shutting out, exclusive, unlike the gener- 
ous inclusive policy of Paul ; and their 
object is simply that you may court 
them, run after, honor them. Their offi- 
cious interest in the Galatians is inspired 
by the hope that the Galatians may attach 
themselves to them, as the advocates and 
representatives of the " completer " salva- 
vation (iii. 3). Zealous interest is not, 
of course, in itself objectionable; Paul 
claims to have it also, and it is good for 
the Galatians to be the objects of it, since, 
in this case, unhke the other, it is exer- 
cised in a noble sphere, i.e. in the sphere 
of their real interests — liberty, salvation. 
But it is good i.e. profitable, to be courted 
(pass, not middle) in a noble cause at 
ALL times — zealous friends may be a 
blessing, if their cause is a good one; 
Paul would not grudge the Galatians such 
friends in his absence, but it is clear that 
it is himself he is thinking of as their 
true friend, even when he is absent. There 
he " courts " them, pursues them with 
prayers and written entreaties, and not 
only when I am with you, my little 
children, with whom I am in travail for 
the second time, until Christ be formed 
in you. The diminutive (reKvia), "little 
children," common in John, is not found 
elsewhere in Paul, but as it admirably ex- 
presses Paul's " maternal " solicitude for 



his spiritual children, it seems unnecessary 
to substitute for it the commoner reKpa 
(children). Through the "folly" of the 
(jalatians, it is as if the children whom 
Paul had already brought to the birth 
had to be born over again. Christ has 
to " assume form " in them ; as yet that 
form is undeveloped and hardly recogniza- 
ble. 

20. Paul feels how unable he is to 
say with the pen to these immature 
" children " all that is in his heart. I 
could wish I were with you at this mo- 
ment, and changing my voice from the 
severe and stern tones I was compelled to 
adopt on my second visit (ver. 16) to the 
accents of affectionate (ver. 19) expos- 
tulation; for I am perplexed about you. 
This paragraph ends, like the last, with 
an expression of anxious fear (ver. 11) 
which serves to remind us that it is no 
abstract theological problem Paul is dis- 
cussing. It is the men rather than the 
problems that He heavy upon his heart; 
he writes his letter in the interests of 
the spiritual emancipation of misguided 
men. 



Slaz'es and Freemen: an Allegory 
(iv. 21-31). 

After the warm, personal appeal, the 
thread of the argument is resumed ; or 
rather the argument is restated in the 
form of an allegory. Paul is pleading for 
freedom ; his opponents are emphasizing 
descent from Abraham. Paul takes them 
on their own ground, goes back to the story 
of Abraham, and points out that Abraham 
had two sons — Ishmael, the natural child, 
" according to the flesh," and Isaac, 
the supernatural child '* of the promise." 
By allegorical interpretation, he connects 
the former, the son of the slave-woman, 
with Sinai and the slavery of the law — 
that is the type of sonship to which the 
Judaizers correspond. Christians, on the 
other hand, who understand the emancipa- 
tion which Christ secured for them (v. i) 
are, like Isaac, children of promise (iv. 
28) and children of freedom (ver. 31). 



Ch. IV] 



aALATIANS. 



251 



21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under 
the law, do ye not hear the law? 

22 For it is written, that Abraham had 
two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other 
by a free woman. 

23 But he ivho was of the bondwoman 
was born after the flesh ; but he of the 
free woman was by promise. 



24 Which things are an allegory: for 
there are the two covenants ; the one from 
the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bond- 
age, which is Agar, 

25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in 
Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which 
now is, and is in bondage with her child- 



21-23. Tell me — he resumes with 
great directness, vigor and abruptness — 
those of you who, under the influence of 
the Judaizers, desire to be subject to 
the law, will you not listen to the laz^'f 
or do you not understand (for o-kovvo in 
this sense, cf. i Cor. xiv. 2) the law? 
— here, in the sense of the whole Pen- 
tateuch, as what follows is taken from 
the narrative, not from the legal part. 
Paul demolishes their arguments by means 
of the very law to which they had made 
their appeal. For Scripture says that 
Abraham had TWO sons. It was not 
enough then to insist upon descent from 
Abraham. The real question was, 
" Which of the sons did the Galatians re- 
semble?" for one, Ishmael, was by the 
slave handmaid, and one, Isaac, by the 
free woman. They might be Abraham's 
sons and practically slaves for all that. 
Those two sons represented two types of 
sonship, the fleshly and the spiritual, the 
natural and the supernatural, the law and 
the promise. Howbeit, sons of Abraham as 
they both were, the one by the hand- 
maid, is born (and the difference between 
him and his brother is an abiding one ; 
perf. tense) according to the flesh, that 
is, his birth was merely a natural event; 
but the other by the free woman is 
born through promise. Isaac's parents 
were aged ; his birth, which humanly 
speaking seemed impossible (Gen. xvii. 
17), was the divine fulfilment of a divine 
promise. Hence he is a child of promise 
(ver. 28). 

24. At once follows the bold allegorical 
application of the story, which is offered 
without apology, as, to Paul and his con- 
temporaries, such an interpretation of the 
Old Testament was as legitimate as it was 
familiar. Now these things have an al- 
legorical sense. Besides the original his- 
toric sense, which was not denied, the 
narrative was also regarded as saying 
something else {aXKriyopelv) ^ as pointing to 
something deeper, more spiritual (cf. i 
Cor. X. 11). Then the bold leap is taken; 
for these women represent two cove- 
nants. Of course no proof is or can be 
offered of this statement, it is simply an 



allegorical interpretation, whose genius is 
to " say something else," something sim- 
ilar to, but profounder and more spiritual 
than, the original statement. But though 
all allegorical interpretation is arbitrary, 
and as Luther says, in this connection, 
" too weak for proof," it is manipulated 
here with great power. The slave and the 
free man could not but suggest to Paul 
the great contrast, of which the epistle is 
full, between the law's slave and Christ's 
free man ; and this led by an easy transi- 
tion to the contrast between iNIount Sinai 
and the heavenly Jerusalem. The contrast 
between the two covenants is graphically 
suggested by i^^v . . . 8e (ver. 24, 26) ; 
one with its origin on Mount Sinai, 
bearing children for slavery, i.e. sub- 
jecting its adherents to the bondage of 
the law; and this covenant is Hagar. 
The Sinai covenant, associated as it is 
with the law, is the mother of slaves; 
it is this that is adumbrated and tA'pified 
by Hagar, herself a slave and the mother 
of a slave. 

25. The first clause of ver. 25 is clearly 
intended to clench this point, but un- 
fortunately both the reading and the pre- 
cise meaning are doubtful. Westcott and 
Hort, and A. R. V. read: ['Now (5e) 
this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia;" 
Alford, and A. V. read: "For (yap) this 
Hagar, etc." Some MSS. omit yap 
(Hagar) reading simply. " For Sinai is 
a mountain in Arabia " or '' mount Sinai 
is in Arabia " ; and it is tempting to sup- 
pose with Kendall " that "Ayap was prob- 
ably an error in transcription for the orig- 
inal yap," or even that yap drew "Ayap 
into the text. The presence of the word 
Hagar however seems necessary to the 
argument ; and the best reading is that 
adopted by A. R. V. (and W. H.) —now 
the (name) Hagar means Mount Sinai, 
in Arabia: in other words, Hagar is the 
Arabic name of Sinai — a fact which Paul 
might have learned during his residence 
in Arabia (i. 17), and a welcome corrobo- 
ration of the allegorical explanation, in 
the previous verse, of Hagar as the Sinai 
covenant. The Hagarenes had their home 
in Arabia, and in Ps. Ixxxiii. 6, are men- 



252 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. IV 



26 But Jerusalem which is above is 
free, which is the mother of us all. 

27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou bar- 
ren that bearest not ; break forth and cry, 
thou that travailest not: for the desolate 
hath many more children than she which 
hath a husband. 



28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are 
the children of promise. 

29 But as then he that was born after 
the flesh persecuted him that ixjas born 
after the Spirit, even so it is now. 



tioned with the Ishmaelites as members of 
a confederacy whose object was the_ de- 
struction of Israel — a fact which inci- 
dentally illustrates the " persecution " to 
which Paul refers in ver. 29, of the son 
of the promise by the son of the flesh. 
The word hajar which in Arabic means 
" stone, rock," may well have been used 
to designate mount Sinai, though there 
is no other confirmation of this. And 
this Hagar which has just been identified 
with Mount Sinai, corresponds to (lit. is 
in the same row or column with) the 
Jerusalem that now is, that is, the earthly 
Jerusalem, considered as the headquarters 
of Judaism. The point of correspondence 
between Hagar and Jerusalem is, as the 
next clause shows, in the slavery of their 
respective children; for she, that is, Jeru- 
salem, is in SLAVERY with her chil- 
dren, in slavery to legal observances (ver. 
10). 

26. But the heavenly Jerusalem 
above, as contrasted with that which is 
here and now, is FREE from the yoke 
of the law, and indeed from every other 
yoke, and she is OUR mother. Accord- 
ing to contemporary Jewish ideas, the 
ideal Jerusalem already existed in the 
heavens and would one day descend _ out 
of heaven from God (cf. Rev. xxi. 2, 
Heb. xii. 22,). To Paul this city is al- 
ready represented, at least in part, by the 
existing Christian church. Already those 
whose faith is in Christ are free, sons of 
their mother Jerusalem the free. Instead 
of beginning this verse with " and the 
other is Sarah " (cf. ver. 24) and strictly 
working out the contrast between Hagar 
and Sarah, the one bearing children for 
slavery, and corresponding to the earthly 
Jerusalem, and the other bearing children 
for freedom, and corresponding to the 
heavenly Jerusalem, Paul simply takes up 
the contrast between the two Jerusalems. 

27. The thought of the new Jerusalem 
kindles his imagination. He recalls one 
of the great passages by which the exiles 
were inspired in Babylon with the as- 
surance that their desolated city would be 
populous again, and he sees in this a 
prophecy of the glorious future of the 
Christian church. For Scripture says: 



" Rejoice, thou barren that dost not 
bear " — the idea of Sarah may have been 
in the mind of Paul, as he cited these 
words ; possibly also in the mind of the 
original prophet himself (cf. Isaiah li. 2) 
— break forth into crying and shout, thou 
who dost not travail with children ; for 
many are the children of the desolate, 
more than those of her who has a hus- 
band (Isaiah liv. i). This is the destiny 
in store for mother Jerusalem, our 
mother. Small and persecuted (ver. 29) 
now, she will one day be populous and 
triumphant. 

28. This glorious vision the apostle 
wishes to write upon the imagination and 
the heart of his foolish Galatians, and to 
bring home to them the sense of their 
citizenship in this heavenly city. Now 
you (this is more striking and effective 
than we, and is probably correct, though 
not quite so well attested) brethren — 
with Paul affection is never lost in argu- 
ment — are, like Isaac, children of prom- 
ise: as believers in Christ, you. Gentiles 
no less than Jews, owe your birth to the 
gracious promise of God, and now there- 
fore you are children of the new Jeru- 
salem, which is free. 

29. But history repeats itself. There 
was persecution then in those old days to 
which tlie allegory goes back, and there is 
persecution still. The thing is inevitable; 
for the two types, represented by Ishmael 
and Isaac, are diametrically opposed, mu- 
tually exclusive (cf. v. 17) ; they cannot 
inherit together (ver. 30). Just as in 
those days IshmacI, the (child) born 
after the flesh (cf. ver. 23) persecuted 
Isaac, the (child born) after the spirit, 
so also (is it) to-day — the Jews perse- 
cute the Christians. Paul knew well what 
this persecution meant. He had been him- 
self pursued by the Jews with bitter and 
fanatical opposition, as the book of Acts 
everywhere attests (cf. xiv. 2, 19, xxiii. 12 
etc.) ; and there may also be here a tacit 
reference to the disturbance and confusion 
caused in Galatia by the Judai;^ers (i. 7; v. 
10, 12). Nothing is said in Genesis of a 
persecution of Isaac by IshmacI : at most it 
was a case of "mocking." (Gen. xxi. 9) 
though the margin of A. R. V. is no doubt 



€h. IV] 



GALATIANS. 



253 



30 Nevertheless what saith the Scrip- 
ture ? Cast out the bondwoman and her 
son : for the son of the bondwoman shall 



not be heir with the son of the free wo- 
man. 

31 So then, brethren, we are not child- 
ren of the bondwoman, but of the free. 



more correct with its " playing." It is 
very probable that Paul is referring here 
to some later Jewish stories of Ishmael's 
insolence, according to one of which he 
had attempted to shoot Isaac. 

30. But what does the Scripture say? 
asks Paul triumphantly; for what the 
Scripture says will be decisive. " Cast 
out the handmaid, it says, and her son; 
for the son of the handmaid shall in no 
wise (ou /XT?) inherit with the son of the 
free woman." Sarah's real words, " shall 
not inherit with my son, even with 
Isaac" (Gen. xxi. 10) are skilfully adapted 
"by Paul, so as to fall into line with his 
argument; he is insisting on the incompati- 
bility of slavery and freedom, of the spirit 
of the law and the spirit of the gospel. 
It is difficult to know whether to admire 
m.ore the insight or the courage which 
prompted such a citation. Isaac and 
Ishmael cannot inherit together, they are 
radically conflicting types. It is Paul's 
great merit that he saw this with absolute 
clearness, and drew all the consequences 
unflinchingly. Considering that the son of 
the bondwoman stands in the allegory for 
the Jews, it is easy to see how daring was 
the citation, " Cast out the handmaid and 
her son," and to understand how the Jews 
waged upon Paul an incessant and implaca- 
ble war. "Away with" (Acts xxii. 22) 
the man who maintained that, despite their 
sonship to Abraham, and their obedience 
to the law, they would be driven out of the 
divine inheritance. 

31. Wherefore, brethren — this is the 
inference to be drawn from the allegory — 
we are children not, like Ishmael, of a 
slave handmaid, in which case we should 
ourselves be slaves, but, like Isaac, of the 
woman that is FREE; spiritual children 
of the heavenly Jerusalem, and therefore 
free from the bondage of Sinai, and of the 
Jerusalem that now is, the home of legalism. 



Throughout the whole discussion, Paul's 
references to the Old Testament are 
marked by great insight, adroitness, and 
daring. His task is to show the incom- 
parable supremacy of faith, and he finds 
adumbrations of this in some of the most 
unlikely parts of the Old Testament. His 
opponents made much of Abraham; Paul 



accepts the appeal to Abraham, and shows 
that it really makes for his case rather 
than for theirs. The great fact in Abra- 
ham's career is not that he was circumcised, 
but that he believed, he had faith (iii. 6), 
and it was this that was reckoned unto 
him for righteousness. This proof of 
righteousness by faith may not convince 
us, with our different mental furniture and 
historical outlook, but it must have stag- 
gered his opponents ; and it is in reality 
an extraordinarily skilful application of the 
Old Testament text (Gen. xv. 6). Then 
again, Paul demolishes the argument built 
upon the importance of descent from Abra- 
ham by appealing to the very simple fact 
that Abraham had tiz'o sons (iv. 22) ; the 
real question is whether it is Isaac or 
Ishmael we resemble ; and, if Ishmael, then 
we shall be " cast out,'' — another very bold 
but felicitous application of another text 
(Gen. xxi. 10), "Cast out the bondwoman 
and ^ her son," Paul had the insight to 
see in the ancient opposition between Isaac 
and Ishmael a prophecy or sj-mbol of the 
free and the legal types of Christianity, 
and to discover the fate of legalism in the 
fate of Ishmael — to be cast out of the in- 
heritance; and he had the courage to pro- 
claim this to the amazement and indigna- 
tion of the Judaizers; the Scripture saith 
that the bondmaiden and her son must be 
cast out. 

Considering the reverence with which 
Paul regarded the Old Testament, and the 
frequency with which he appeals to it to 
prove a point or clench an argument, his 
attitude to the law in this epistle is very 
daring and original. The law is declared 
to be only temporary, in the divine in- 
tention ; it has no binding effect on Chris- 
tians. _ Doubtless in this epistle, Paul is 
thinking mainly of its ceremonial obliga- 
tions, while in the epistle to the Romans, 
where it is called " holy, and the com- 
mandment holy and just and good" (vii. 
12) it is mainly its moral elements that 
he has in view. In reality, however, he 
does not draw any technical distinction be- 
tween the moral and the ceremonial. He 
simply says, "the law was added" (Gal. iii. 
19). It was therefore not eternal; the eter- 
nal thing is the divine grace, represented by 
the promise which historically preceded the 
law. It is curious to find the thought of 



254 



GALATIANS, 



[Ch. V 



CHAPTER 5. 

I Stand fast therefore in the liberty 
wherewith Christ hath made us free, and 
be not entangled again with the yoke of 
bondage. 



2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if 
ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you 
nothing. 

3 For I testify again to every man that 
is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the 
whole law. 



Paul here anticipating the modern view of 
the Old Testament, according to which, 
generally speaking, the legal portions are 
second, both in point of time and import- 
ance, to the prophetic. The real heart of 
the Old Testament is now felt to be in 
the prophetic books and those written in 
the prophetic spirit, just as Paul felt its 
real heart to be in the promise, not the 
law. 

Faith is the mighty power that trans- 
forms the world. The law can do nothing 
but curse a man (iii. 10) and reduce him, 
if he be honest with himself, to despair. 
Observance of ordinances can do nothing 
whatever towards making him a new crea- 
ture ; observance of the Jewish festivals is 
practical paganism (iv. 8-10). The thing 
that "counts" with God is faith — such 
faith as Abraham had, which was counted 
for righteousness (iii. 6), such faith as 
Habakkuk declared would be rewarded with 
Hfe (iii, 11). This faith runs like a line of 
light all through the Old Testament; but 
it shines full-orbed when Christ comes. 
Very striking are Paul's phrases in iii. 23 
and 25, " before faith came," and " when 
faith had come." Christ divides history 
in two — the time before He came, the legal 
dispensation, when in spite of men of faith 
like Abraham, generally speaking Law was 
lord ; and the time after He came, bringing 
to those who believe in Him sonship and 
freedom. Paul understood both eras as 
few men have ever done. It is out of the 
fulness of his own experience that he 
writes; "before faith came we were kept 
in ward under law ; but after faith came 
we are no longer under a pedagogue." 
He knew the constraint, the bondage, the 
despair, the death wrapped up in the dis- 
pensation of legalism ; he had tasted and 
seen how bitter it was. All the more was 
he able to appreciate the exhilaration, the 
emancipation, the redemption, the sonship 
which were his in and through Christ. 
He had been a citizen of both Jerusalems — 
of that which now is, which is in bondage 
with her children ; and no less of tlic 
heavenly Jerusalem whose sons are free 
(iv. 25-27). 



Exhortation to Abide in the Liberty of the 
Gospel (v. 1-6). 

The point which has been so abundantly 
established by argument, that the acceptance 
of the gospel is incompatible with subserv- 
ience to the law, is now, in a few pow- 
erful sentences, borne directly home upon 
the consciences of the Galatians. 

1. The connection is very close between 
this verse and the last : '* We are children 
of the free." It was for FREEDOM 
(perhaps ctt' iXevdepia^ with a view to 
freedom; cf. ver. 13; so Hort) that Christ 
freed US (vi^^s, emphatic) from the curse 
of the law (iii. 13) ; that is, that we should 
be really and completely free; and not in- 
volved in another yoke of bondage, such 
as the Judaizers are trying to impose upon 
the Galatians. Stand firm then against 
the temptation to part with that freedom, 
and do not let yourselves be entangled 
a second time in a yoke of slavery. 
Their heathenism had been a slavery (iv. 
8) ; their adoption of Judaistic observances 
(iv. 10) will be a second and a similar 
slavery. Here, as in iv. 9, Paul puts 
paganism and Judaism, in this respect, upon 
the same level. Christians must not be 
slaves of institutions, though they may be 
of Christ (Phil. i. i) and of one another 
(Gal. V. 13). 

2, 3. To the very important statement 
which Paul is about to make, he challenges 
special attention. See! and he makes it with 
the full weight of his personal and apos- 
tolic authority; I Paul tell you. For a 
similar introduction to a similarly author- 
itative section (cf. 2 Cor. x. i). What he 
now says — that if you submit to cir- 
cumcision, Christ will be of no benefit 
to you — puts the conclusion of his long 
argument so plainly and unmistakably that 
the most " unintelligent " of the Galatians 
cannot miss his moaning. He does not 
say, " if you are circumcised," but if you 
receive circumcision." Circumcision, which 
was in itself nothing (ver. 6, vi. 15), 
meant a good deal in the atmosphere 
created by the Judaizers ; it meant a rec- 
ognition of the law as part, at least, of 
the way of salvation, and therefore was, 
under the circumstances, an implicit de- 
nial of the "completeness" (iii. 3) of the 



Oh. V] 



GALATIANS. 



255 



4 Christ is become of no effect unto 
you, whosoever of you are justified by the 
law; ye are fallen from grace. 

5 For we through the Spirit wait for 
the hope of righteousness by faith. 



6 For in Jesus Christ neither circum- 
cision availeth any thing, nor uncircum- 
cision; but faith which worketh by love. 



salvation wrought by Christ. Paul faces 
them with the alternative, " Circumcision 
or Christ." If Christ avails for salvation, 
circumcision profits nothing; if circum- 
cision avails for salvation, Christ profits 
nothing. And whatever the Judaizers 
man say, this is what he — Paul — says: 
and it is at their peril that they refuse 
to listen to one who is " an apostle, not 
from men, nor through man, but through 
Jesus Christ" Himself (i. i). Yes, I 
solemnly protest again, as I have just 
protested in ver. 2, to EVERY man that 
submits to circumcision (not " to every 
man that is circumcised") that he is 
bound to do the WHOLE law. To 
recognize the law at all was to recognize it 
altogetJier ; and the man who did not do 
all that it prescribed was cursed (iii. lo). 
.The Galatians did not realize the scope of 
the obligation they were taking upon them- 
selves, if they submitted to the Judaistic 
proposals of circumcision. 

4, 5. There are two ways of justifica- 
tion — by the law, and by Christ, but they 
are mutually exclusive. Your connection 
with Christ is annulled at once (aor.) 
you who are seeking your justification 
in the law; by such an attempt you are 
at once fallen away from the grace of 
justification which is mediated by Christ 
alone. The reason for this pathetic fate 
is found in the next verse ; for it is not 
by law, but by faith that men are justified. 
But the verse takes a wider sweep ; it 
contemplates the destiny as well as the 
origin of this "justified" life, and we who 
are already living this life — Paul and 
those like-minded with him — are strik- 
ingly contrasted with those who are seek- 
ing justification in the law. It is out of 
a full personal experience, and out of the 
knowledge that this experience is shared 
by others, that Paul writes : WE by the 
spirit, on the ground of faith, intently 
await the hope of eternal life and future 
glory (Rom. viii. 18-25), which our pres- 
ent possession of righteousness (through 
faith in Christ), warrants us in cherishing. 
Every word in this great sentence is em- 
phatic, and the whole verse is in pointed 
contrast to the verse that precedes. The 
impulse and atmosphere of the new life 
are associated with the spirit, not with the 
iiesh (cf. iii. 3). The spirit is the divine 



spirit, working upon the human spirit; 
here, as so often, it is impossible to decide 
in favor of one rather than of the other. 
Those who are justified by faith in Christ 
move under spiritual impulses, and in a 
spiritual region, which has nothing to do 
with carnal ordinances like circumcision. 
Again their justification, their expectation, 
their whole life springs from faith in 
Christ, not from " the works of the law." 
Their attitude is one both of enjoyment 
and expectancy. The eyes of the legalists 
are upon Moses and the past, those of the 
Christian upon the future, when their 
glorious hope will be consummated (cf. 
Phil. iii. 20 f.). This hope is described 
as the hope of righteousness ; but, con- 
sidering the whole teaching of the epistle, 
this can hardly mean the hope that they 
will attain to righteousness, for this they 
already possess through faith in Christ 
(ii. 16). Rather it means the hope of 
future glory which their present possession 
and experience of righteousness inspire 
them to cherish. 

6. This attitude of patient and hopeful ex- 
pectancy springs from /azY/z, not from works, 
such as circumcision; for that avails noth- 
ing in this connection. In fellowship with 
Christ (Jesus), neither circumcision nor 
uncircumcision is of any avail for salva- 
tion. To those who are in Christ, i.e. 
to Christians, circumcision is irrelevant, 
of no need or value for purposes of salva- 
tion; it is nothing (vi. 15). The Judaists 
were pleading for something that had no 
place and no power in the Christian 
scheme of things. Equally necessary, 
however, is the reminder that uncircum- 
cision avails nothing: it also was irrele- 
vant. Paul's argument is double-edged : a 
Gentile was no nearer to Christ for his 
uncircumcision than a Jew for his circum- 
cision. Neither commended men to God ; 
but it is faith evermore operating through 
love that avails, hepyovixevr] is middle, 
not passive, as in A. R. V. margin 
(wrought). Faith is the source (e/c) of 
the Christian life : from that all its ac- 
tivity springs. For there must be activity, 
as well as expectation (ver. 5) ; and the 
instrument {did) of this activity is love. 
Bengel remarks with his customary terse- 
ness and insight: "With faith he joined 
hope in ver. 5, now he joins love ; in 



256 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. V 



7 Ye did run well ; who did hinder you 
that ye should not obey the truth ? 

8 This persuasion coinctli not of him 
that calleth you. 

9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole 
lump. 



10 I have confidence in you through 
the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise 
minded : but he that troubleth you shall 
bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 



these consists the whole of Christianity. 
The interlacing of the great Christian 
virtues in these two comprehensive verses 
is very suggestive. Findlay sums it up 
well in the words: " Love gives faith 
hands and feet; hope lends it wings. 
(Galatians, p. 3i3-) The life that starts 
in faith expresses itself m love and main- 
tains itself in hope until the perfect day. 

We see here, what we shall see still more 
plainly in the concluding section of the 
epistle, the intensely practical nature of the 
aims of Paul. His aim is not to con- 
struct a theology, but to affect and trans- 
form hfe. The apprehension of Chris- 
tianity has to express itself in the loymg 
service of men (cf. ver. 13 f-)- It is a 
great thing to see that to the spiritual 
hfe such things as circumcision are irrele- 
vant; but many who learn this lesson act 
as if they imagined that there was pe- 
culiar merit in uncircumcision. They 
break away from tradition, _ and pride 
themselves in their emancipation from it 
as much as others do in their adherence to 
it — forgetting that unless their intellectual 
transformation inspires them to find a 
nobler outlet and a higher expression for 
their energies, it availeth nothing. A 
merely negative attitude is of no value. 
Men who think liberally, for example, on 
Biblical and religious problems, are 
tempted to look down scornfully on others 
of more conservative instincts; and to 
them the reminder is not inapplicable that, 
if circumcision has no value, neither, of 
itself, has uncircumcision. There is such 
a thing as a spurious Hberalism — the hb- 
eralism which has freed itself from some- 
thing, but for nothing in particular. The 
thing that has value is the thing that tells 
on hfe, that touches it lovingly, helpfully, 
hopefully. Its worth is measured by its 
influence upon experience. A mere nega- 
tion is unfruitful, and it may be destruc- 
tive. The thing that counts is not merely 
emancipation from a tradition or system 
that is now outworn, but the possession 
of a new life. It is faith working by love. 
The faith that emancipates us from legal- 
ism, is hardly worth having, unless it also 
sets our eyes hopefully toward the coming 



day, and impels us to loving work in the 
service of one another (ver. 13). 



A Friendly and a Stern Word (v. 7-12). 

Paul now turns with words of gentle 
expostulation to his Galatians who had 
begun the Christian race so well, and who 
might have run on unhampered had it not 
been for the impediments thrown in their 
way by the Judaizers. He still hopes well 
of them, and expresses his confidence in 
their future amendment ; but the others, as 
disturbers and subverters of the church, are 
dismissed by him with a word of indignant 
scorn. 

7-9. You were running the Christian 
race (for the metaphor cf. i Cor. ix. 26) 
nobly. Who hindered you (blocked your 
path) from following the truth of the 
gospel? (cf. ii. 5, 14). The persuasion 
(Treia-fiovTi recalls the preceding veieecrdai) 
to which you are yielding, certainly (does) 
not (come) from God who called you 
(lit. "your caller") in the grace of Christ 
(i. 6) but from a very different source; 
the " other " gospel of the Judaizers, to 
which the Galatians are lending an ear, is 
anything but divine. But its influence bids 
fair to spread like a little leaven, which 
leavens the whole lump (cf. i Cor. v. 
6) ; a little of the infection of Judaistic 
doctrine will in time corrupt their whole 
faith and life. 

ID. The danger is very real; but Paul, 
whose mood grows more tender as the 
epistle advances, is not without good hopes 
of the Galatians. Whatever success the 
Judaizers may expect from their propa- 
ganda, I for my part (h<^) have confi- 
dence in you in the Lord — all of a 
Christian's acts and aspirations are in the 
Lord — that you will not change your 
minds, in the direction of the Judaistic 
misconception of the gospel. The Judaizers 
had tempted the Galatians to be minded 
otherzvise than as Paul had taught them, 
but he is confident that, after they get 
his letter with its re-statement of the gos- 
pel, they will resist the temptation. In a 
very different mood, however, he addresses 
the' tempters, and foretells for them a di- 
|vine judgment. But he who confuses 



Ch. V] 



GALATIANS. 



257 



II And I, brethren, if I yet preach cir- 
cumcision, wh}' do I yet suffer persecu- 
tion? then is the offence of the cross 
ceased. 



12 I would they were even cut oft" 
which trouble vou. 



(same word as i. 7) you shall be com- 
pelled to bear, hke a heavy burden, the 
divine judgment, no matter who he be. 
Some suppose that the use of the singular 
here points to some ringleader, and the 
last clause in particular, indicating per- 
haps some one in high authorit}-, has been 
supposed to point to Peter or James. 
But it seems more probable that the singu- 
lar is to be taken quite generall}^, and is = 
the plural in ver. 12 ; if so, it has simply 
the force of individuahzing the offenders. 
II. But as for me, brethren, if I am 
still, as before my conversion, preaching 
circumcision, why am I still being per- 
secuted? Had Paul really been accused 
of preaching circumcision? In view of 
the whole tenor of this epistle, some 
scholars think this absolutely impossible. 
But there had just been enough in the 
conduct of Paul to give colorable pretext 
to the calumny. The principle of accom- 
modation he frankly acknowledges, where 
no moral interest is at stake; and in virtue 
of this he had become a Jew to the Jews 
that he might win the Jews (i Cor. ix. 
20). In harmony with this we find him 
shaving his head because he had a vow 
(Acts xviii. 18) and purifying himself be- 
fore entering the temple (Acts xxi. 26). 
But the most fatal count in the indictment 
was that he had actually had Timothy cir- 
cumcised (Acts xvi. 3), and this would 
completely offset his refusal to have Titus 
circumcised (Gal. ii. 3). The cases were 
different, Timothy being by birth half a 
Jew, and the circumcision being probably 
designed to facilitate his work among the 
Jews, Still Paul's opponents could point 
with maHcious triumph to this case, as one 
in which_ Paul had been on the side of 
circumcision. Yes, he might reph-, " I 
tolerated it, I permitted it on the principle 



of accommodation — for it is in reality 
nothing (Gal. vi. 15) — but no one can 
say that I ever preached it. It formed 
no part of my gospel. In proof of that, 
I have only to point to my persecutions 
(from Jews, of course; cf. 2 Cor. xi. 26). 
These I should never have had to suffer, 
had I preached circumcision." The per- 
secution is the best answer to the calumny. 
Then again, if he is preaching circum^ 
cision, the stumbling-block to Jewish 
pride (i Cor. i. 23), the scandal (aKavdaXov) 
of the cross has been abolished, and why 
is he being persecuted? It is precisely 
because he has held the hateful cross be- 
fore their eyes (iii. i) that he has had to 
suffer ; and this again is an effective dis- 
proof of the calumnj'- that he preaches cir- 
cumcision. 

12. As Paul thinks of those " dis- 
turbers,'' who misrepresent the gospel, 
calumniate and persecute himself, and con- 
fuse his too susceptible Galatian brethren, 
he breaks out, in his holy indignation, into 
bitter scornful words. Would that those 
who are subverting you would go the 
length of (/cai) making eunuchs of them- 
selves! Some who have thought this 
stern word coarse and unworthy of the 
apostle, attempt to evade this meaning by 
translating diroKo-^ovrat " would that they 
might be cut off or cut themselves off " 
(from the fellowship of the church) ; but 
grammar and usage are altogether in favor 
of the other translation. Adeney puts the 
meaning well : " If salvation is to be had 
by the knife, the more eft'ectual the use of 
that instrument the better." The iron}^ of 
the wish is all the more scathing, as this 
very self-mutilation vras practised, in honor 
of Cybele, in one of the chief cities of 
the province to which the epistle was ad- 
dressed. 



258 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. V 



THE MORAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE NEW LIFE (v. 12-vi. 10). 



13 For, brethren, ye have been called 
unto liberty ; only use not liberty for an oc- 
casion to the flesh, but by love serve one 
another. 



14 For all the law is fulfilled in one 
word, ez'en in this; Thou shalt love thy 
neighbour as thyself. 



In spite of the for, which connects ver. 
13 intimately with ver. 12, it is quite ob- 
vious that at this point a new section of 
the epistle begins, which may not inappro- 
priately be called the practical section. 
We have seen again and again how very 
far from theoretical the previous discussion 
has been. The apostle has written at 
white heat; he has sought to bring home 
to the Galatians, by every device of earnest 
and impassioned argument, that the ac- 
ceptance or rejection of his teaching is 
nothing less than a matter of life and 
death. If they reject it, their connection 
with Christ is annulled, they are severed 
from Christ (v. 4) ; if they accept it, the 
spirit will quicken and sustain them with 
a glorious hope. Relatively speaking, the 
previous section might fairly be called 
theological. In it Paul who, in the first 
two chapters, proved his right to speak as 
an independent apostle of Jesus Christ, has 
shown the essential nature and condition 
of life in Christ, as resting upon justifica- 
tion by faith alone; and his presentation 
owed much of its clearness and cogency 
to its continual contrast between this way 
of justification and the other by the works 
of the law, which only leads to despair and 
death. Now, however, that the origin and 
nature of the new life have been deter- 
mined, it is fitting that the epistle should 
close with a description of the moral con- 
tents of that life. For Christianity is not 
opinion, it is a life that expresses itself 
in service (ver. 13). It is not only faith, 
but faith working (ver. 6), and the con- 
cluding verses show how it works, or 
ought to work. 



The Lazv of Love (v. 13-15). 

13. The epistle is one magnificent plea 
for liberty (cf. ver, i) ; that is the mean- 
ing and object of the Christian call. For 
YOU (vfiecs), whatever the Judai/.crs may 
think of the gospel, were called for 
FREEDOM, brethren (the for justifies 
the emphatic scorn with which Paul had 
just spoken of the " subverters," who are 
imperilling and would destroy this very 



freedom with a view to which they had 
been called) . But of all gifts, freedom is per- 
haps the easiest to misinterpret and abuse. 
There is always the danger of its being 
mistaken for licence ; and a special danger 
in this case, considering that Paul has 
throughout represented it as emancipation 
from law, the Mosaic law. There are 
some to whom this doctrine, misunder- 
stood, would only be too welcome ; and 
it remains for Paul to safeguard it, and 
to show that, so far from leading to moral 
laxity or licence, it affords the supreme 
and only real guarantee for the purest and 
loftiest morality. Only do not (use) this 
freedom as a starting point (a basis of 
operations) for the indulgence of the 
flesh, but through the exercise and offices 
of love be the slaves of one another. 
The serve (A. V.) and servants (A. R. V.) 
of the English versions fail to bring out 
the fine paradox of Paul. He has been 
pleading for freedom, and protesting 
against slavery (iv. 3, 8, 9) — men in 
Christ are no longer slaves, but sons (iv. 
7) ; and after winning for us our freedom, 
he reduces us to slavery again — this 
time, however, not to an external law, 
but to one another. The slavery inspired 
by love and working through love, is the 
truest expression of freedom. It is a very 
daring and suggestive paradox. It is un- 
fortunate that there does not exist in 
English a word which adequately repro- 
duces the flavor of SovXos. " Servant " is 
distinctly too mild, " bondservant " is un- 
familiar, " slave " is perhaps rather too 
strong ; but the point of the argument is 
best brought out by the last word. 

14. For the entire law is for ever 
(pcrf.) fulfilled in one word, namely 
this: "Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbor 
as thyself" — the neighbor being perhaps 
primarily the fellow-Christian, "those of 
the household of faith" (vi. lob), but in 
the light of Jesus' parable (cf. Luke x. 
29 ff.), and of Paul's teaching elsewhere 
(cf. vi. loa) we are justified in giving it 
also a wider reference. In spite of Paul's 
polemic, it turns out that he has the pro- 
foundest respect for the law, only he 
looks rather to what it moans than to 



Ch. V] 



GALATIANS. 



259 



15 But if ye bite and devour one an- 
other, take heed that ye be not consumed 
one of another. 

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, 
and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 



I7_ For the flesh lusteth against the 
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and 
these are contrary the one to the other ; so 
that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 



what it says — not to its individual or- 
dinances, but to its inmost spirit, as ex- 
pressed in its most inspired moments (Lev. 
xix. 18). There seems to be a reminis- 
cence here of the teaching of Jesus (Mat. 
xxii. 36-40) who taught that love was 
the secret and center of " the law and the 
prophets " — practically = the whole Old 
Testament. By the legalist the whole law 
ought to be kept (ver. 3), yet it cannot 
be kept (cf. iii. 10) ; but by Christ's free 
man it can be kept, for essentially he 
keeps it in serving his brethren in love. 
The compulsion is inner, not outer. Thus 
freedom from the law, which it was so 
easy to caricature as licence, turns out to 
be a fulfilment of the law — in love. 
There is 'such a thing as "the law of 
Christ" (vi. 2). 

15. But this noble ideal of loving, 
mutual service was very far from being 
attained in Galatia ; indeed the controversy 
introduced by the Judaists had rendered 
it practically impossible, and was bidding 
fair to ruin their bond of Christian brother- 
hood. But if, instead of serving one an- 
other, you angrily bite and snap at one 
another, like wild beasts, and deliberately 
devour one another, take care that you 
be not destroyed by one another. The 
passions engendered by party spirit will 
lead to destruction. The repetition of 
one another in vv. 13, 15 is suggestive; 
those who ought to serve one another, will 
bite, devour, destroy one another. 



The Battle of the Flesh and Spirit 
(v. 16-26). 

The free man is free — not to obey the 
flesh (ver. 13), but to obey the law of 
love, the law of Christ, the impulse of 
the spirit. This paragraph illustrates what 
is meant by the life of the flesh, the life 
of the spirit, and the conflict between 
them. 

16.^ What I mean (especially by the 
warning not to use Christian liberty as an 
occasion for the flesh, ver. 13) is this : 
Walk by the SPIRIT, under its guiding 
and directing influence, and in obedience to 
its impulses ; and the result will be that 
your walk through life will be a truly 



spiritual, not a carnal one; assuredly {ov 
m) you shall not accomplish the desire 
of the flesh. This was one of the ulti- 
mate objects of the multiplied ordinances 
of the Jewish law — to hold in check the 
desire of the flesh, but the power to ac- 
complish it was lacking. What the law 
strove unsuccessfully to do, can be done 
by those who walk in the spirit. It is in- 
teresting to_ see how profoundly ethical is 
the conception of the spirit that governs 
this whole passage. In i Cor. xii.-xiv., it 
was conceived rather as a power producing 
miraculous and ecstatic effects; here it is 
the source and inspiration of the moral 
life. 

I7._ The power of the flesh is terrible, 
and it can only be overcome by the supe- 
rior power of the divine spirit. The Flesh 
and the Spirit are here conceived as 
mighty forces that contend for the mas- 
tery within the soul of the man. For there 
is a conflict of desires, the flesh against 
the spirit, and the spirit against the 
flesh — for these forces are in deadly op- 
position to one another, and the ultimate 
object of this opposition is to prevent 
your doing the things you v^ould (cf. 
Rom. vii.). It must not be forgotten that 
although these verses 16-18 are expressed 
in general terms, and have a universal ap- 
plication, they are directly addressed, in 
the first instance, to the Galatians X2nd 
pers. plu.). They are, at this time espe- 
cially, in a state of unstable equilibrium, so 
to speak, drawn this way by the spirit, in 
which they had begun, and that way by 
the flesh, with which they are being taught 
to crown their endeavors (iii. 3). Each 
influence prevents the other from coming 
to full fruition. And so more generally, 
the desire to indulge the " flesh " by doing 
evil is held in check by the restraining 
influence of the " spirit," and the desire to- 
wards good by the degrading influence of 
the flesh. As '»'« means /;/ order that (and 
not ''so that the result is that you do not 
do the things you would"), we must see 
in this clause the divine intention of the 
opposition between flesh and spirit — that 
the wish of neither be carried out. That 
the flesh should be restrained by the spirit 
is intelligible as a divine purpose ; the 
objection that the converse would imply an 



260 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. V 



i8 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are 
not under the law. 

19 Now the works of the flesh are 
manifest, which are these. Adultery, forni- 
cation, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, vari- 
ance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, 
heresies, 

21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, 
revellings, and such like : of the which I 
tell you before, as I have also told you in 



time past, that they which do such things 
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, 
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, good- 
ness, faith, 

23 Aleekness, temperance : against such 
there is no law. 

24 And they that are Christ's have 
crucified the flesh with the afl'ections and 
lusts. 



immoral conception of God is answered by 
srch passages as iii. 22, Rom. xi. 32. (So 
Lipsius.) 

1 3. But if it is by the spirit that you 
are being led,' you are not under the 
law. When the spirit, which works from 
within, is the driving (aycxi) impulse of 
the life, we are living under another regime 
altogether than that of the law, with its 
external compulsion ; we are free. It is 
interesting to watch how naturally Paul 
writes law, where, according to the argu- 
ment, we should have expected flesh. 
Both law and flesh move in the sphere 
of externals, and each, in its own way, 
is opposed to " spirit." 

19-21. In vv. 19-23 are two contrasted 
catalogues of the products of the fleshly 
and the spiritual life, which answer, once 
for all, the objection that Paul's plea for 
the " liberty " of the " spirit," and his 
polemic against the law, might lead to 
moral licence. Now the works of the 
flesh, which of course the man who walks 
by the spirit will not accomplish (ver. 16) 
are obvious — obvious at all times and es- 
pecially so perhaps in that Grseco-Roman 
world. They are these — fifteen in all 
(divided into four groups) if, with R. V. 
we omit murders {(t>ovoL) which may have 
crept in through its resemblance to 4>06voi 
(envyings). (a) Significantly enough, sins 
of impurity come first. In the Gnxco- 
Roman world, even more perhaps than in 
ours, they had won this baleful pre-emi- 
nence. The word flesh has a wide latitude, 
including all that is opposed to spirit : the 
works of the flesh are, as this list shows, 
not confined to sinful bodily acts. But 
it is in sins of impurity that the flesh ex- 
presses itself most obviously and char- 
acteristically: fornication, uncleanness (a 
more general word), wantonness (shame- 
less indecency, probably here in sexual re- 
lationships, though the Greek word, like 
the English, could refer to behaviour 
generally), (b) In the ancient world, im- 
morality was very often associated with 
idolatry (cf. i Cor.) and among the super- 



stitious practices encouraged by idolatry 
was sorcery, particularly common in Asia. 
(c) A new group, suggested, perhaps, by 
the spirit of division and faction intro- 
duced by the Judaizers, begins with en- 
mities, more particularly characterized as 
strife and jealousy, angry outbursts, and 
intrigues (these four words occur in 
same order in 2 Cor. xii. 20), divisions, 
m.ore specifically parties, and outbreaks 
of envy, (d) The list is closed by sins 
of intemperance, drunken debauches, 
revellings, and such like; elaborate as 
this list is it is only typical, not exhaustive. 
Of these things I tell in advance {i.e. 
before the day of judgment) as I told 
you already on my previous visits to 
Galatia, that those who make a practice 
of such things as these shall not inherit 
the kingdom of God (see i Cor. vi. 9f.). 
They are not sons, and therefore they 
cannot be heirs (iv. 7). , 

22-24. Over against this ugly catalogue 
of the works of the flesh stands the cat- 
alogue of the fruits of the spirit — both 
together giving reality to the conflict de- 
scribed in ver. 17 in general terms. It 
is significant that Paul does not call them 
zijorks (ver. 19), but fruit. Works are 
associated in this epistle rather with the 
law (ii. 16) and the flesh, but the col- 
lective fruit here is perhaps intended to 
suggest " the inner unity of the fruits of 
the spirit in contrast to the works of the 
flesh which spring from passions of manv 
kinds" (Sieffert). But the fruit of the 
spirit is love, whose place at the beginning 
is characteristic of Paul (cf. ver. 14; i 
Cor. xiii. 13), joy which springs from the 
indestructible consciousness of salvation, 
peace not so much with God (though this 
is involved) as with other men, for the 
virtues here named are mostly those ex- 
emplified in social relations ; patience 
under insult, kindness, more specific than, 
but not unlike goodness, faithfulness, i.e. 
fidelity in one's relations with others (not 
faith: this is not a fruit of the spirit, 
but, as the whole epistle teaches, the 



Ch. V] 



GALATIANS. 



261 



25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also 
walk in the Spirit. 

26 Let us not be desirous of vainglory, 
provoking one another, envying one an- 
other. 



CHAPTER 6. 

I Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a 
fault, ye w^hich are spiritual, restore such a 



starting-point of the life of the spirit). 
And as the peace and long-suffering are 
contrasted with strife and jealousy (ver. 
20) so meekness, a certain self-repression, 
and temperance, self-control, are con- 
trasted with the sins of intemperance 
which closed the other list. Against such 
tempers and the men who exhibit them 
there is no law: law can bring no charge 
against such, and therefore in a somewhat 
different sense from that in which the 
words were used before, men of the spirit 
are "not under the law" (ver. 18). The 
case is proved, then, that Paul's liberty 
does not lead to immorality ; his " spir- 
itual " men keep the law in the deepest 
sense of all (cf. ver. 14). This is fur- 
ther proved from another point of view ; 
and those who belong to Christ Jesus 
crucified the flesh — when by their bap- 
tism they entered into fellowship with 
Him (Rom. vi. 3) — with its passions 
and desires. The battle between the flesh 
and spirit may go on, but ideally, at least, 
it is already won. In the death of Christ, 
those who are mystically united to Christ, 
died to the sin which caused His death ; 
their flesh, like His, is crucified, was then 
crucified, when by faith they accepted 
Him (cf. ii. 20). Thus fleshly passions 
and desires are dead, and the liberty which 
Paul claims from the law is triumphantly 
shown not to be liberty to sin. 

25, 26. If, then, the flesh is dead, cruci- 
fied, and it is by the spirit (TrvevfiaTi em- 
phatic in both clauses) that we are living, 
if it is the guiding power and principle 
of our lives, by the spirit let us — more 
persuasive than if he had used the imper- 
ative, "do you" — also walk (cf. ver. 16). 
The outer life must correspond to the inner ; 
faith must express itself (ver. 6) in prac- 
tice. In view, no doubt, partly, of the 
factions and divisions of which he has 
just spoken (ver, 20), he closes the sec- 
tion with the words; let us not — like the 
Judaists, for example, who courted the 
Galatians, in order to be courted by them 
in turn (iv. 17) — become (the tendency 
had already begun to manifest itself) 
coveters of empty honor, thereby chal- 
lenging one another to strife and conten- 
tion, and, as is natural to the weaker party, 
envying one another. Envy is one of 
the works of the flesh (ver. 21), and there- 



fore must not, cannot be cherished, by 
those who " live and walk by the spirit " 
(ver. 25). The repetition of one another 
emphasizes this conduct as a violation of 
that brotherly (vi. i), social feeling, 
which ought to subsist in a Christian 
community. This idea is amplified at the 
beginning of the following paragraph. 



Social and Individual Responsibility 
(vi. i-^). 

The contrast between the flesh and the 
spirit was expressed in the last paragraph 
with much vividness and detail ; and in v. 
13 f. the life of the spiritual man, Christ's 
free man, had been generally described as 
a life of loving service. Into this general 
picture, ch. vi. 1-5 paints some detail : 
these verses constitute a brief programme 
of conduct for "you who are spiritual." 

I. Brethren — the stern tone in which 
the argument began (cf. iii. i) is grad- 
ually changing (iv. 20) into one of ten- 
derness; besides they are brethren one of 
another, as well as of him, and it is really 
on this thought that the argument of the 
first two verses hinges ; if a man be sud- 
denly (as would easily happen among the 
quick-tempered Celts) overtaken by his 
own passion (this, rather than " detected in 
the act by another " seems to be the mean- 
ing)^ in some transgression, you who are 
spiritual i.e. living under the influence of 
the spirit (v. 25) set such a one right, 
restore him to his true moral and spir- 
itual condition (the same word is used 
in _ Alark i. 19 for mending nets), in a 
spirit of meekness. This means much 
more than " in a meek spirit " ; spirit in 
such_ a context (v. 18, 25) is very em- 
phatic. This " setting right of such a one " 
is to be expected of men who walk in 
the spirit, and the spirit in such a case 
expresses itself as meekness: this is one 
of the spirit's fruits (v. 23). The motive 
to such mercy is a consideration of our 
own frailty: considering thyself, lest 
THOU also be tempted — after the 
plural, the singular impressively individual- 
izes the appeal — each man must remember 
his own frailty (cf. ver. 5). A man will be 
likely to be considerate of others, if he 



262 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. VI 



one in the spirit of meekness ; considering 
thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 

2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and 
so fulfil the law of Christ. 

3 For if a man think himself to be 
something, when he is nothing, he deceiv- 
eth himself. 



4 But let every man prove his own 
work, and then shall he have rejoicing in 
himself alone, and not in another, 

5 For every man shall bear his own 
burden. 

6 Let him that is taught in the word 
communicate unto him that teacheth in all 
good things. 



considers himself, and his own liability to 
temptation. 

2. Evermore (pres. imp.) bear one 
another's burdens, and in this way 
you shall be completely fulfilling 
{dpa7rXrjpb)cr€T€ -^ both this, and the aor. imp. 
fulfil, are well attested) the law of Christ. 
As in V. 26, one another is emphatic. 
The law of Christ is a social law ; it 
considers " thy neighbor as well as thy- 
self " (v. 14). The burdens which the 
Mosaic law and still more, the casuistical 
interpretation of that law, imposed were 
a " yoke which neither our fathers nor we 
were able to bear" (Acts xv. 10, cf. Luke 
xi. 46) and " it seemed good to the Holy 
Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater 
burden" (Acts xv. 28, a passage which 
throws a very interesting side-hght on 
our verse). But the law of Christ throws 
upon us not the burden of ceremonial, but 
the burden of helping the other man (cf. i 
Cor, x. 24), such a man e.g. as is "over- 
taken by a transgression," though of course 
the law is not limited in its application to 
this. Whatever the other man's burden may 
be, sin, sorrow, poverty, it ought to be 
borne, shared, by those who are " spiritual," 
and that is how the law of Christ is fulfilled. 
This was the law of His life, who " took 
our infirmities, and bare our diseases " 
(Mat. viii. 17). The law of Christ; after 
the elaborate polemic against the law 
which has characterized the epistle, this 
phrase comes with superb effect. Christ, 
too, has His law as well as Moses, but 
it is the law of love; a spirit, not an 
ordinance, " When thou layest upon me 
the sense of obligation, that moment thou 
settest my spirit free" (George Matheson). 

3-5. Conceit may lead a man to judge 
his neighbor harshly (ver. i) and to re- 
fuse to share his burden; such conceit is 
just a species of sclf-dcccption. For if a 
man thinks he is something, when — as 
this very conceit, if nothing else, shows — 
he is nothing, it is himself that he is 
deceiving. But let each man — instead of 
looking with complacency or contemptuous 
pity at his weak neighbor — put his own 
work to the test: (a) his own zvork, 
achievement, and (b) his oivn work, (a) 



The important thing is not what a man 
thinks about himself — in that he may be 
grievously deceived — but what he has 
done. And again (b), what he has done. 
His business is with himself, not with 
his neighbor (except to help him to bear 
his burdens) ; comparisons are odious. 
And then, when he has tested his own 
work, he will have his ground for boast- 
ing in relation to himself alone, and not 
in relation to the other weaker neighbor. 
Paul does not grudge a man his joy over 
some piece of work nobly done ; only the 
joy must not spring from a proud com- 
parison with some weaker, or less effective 
neighbor. There is no brotherliness (vi. 
i) in that. For each man has (lit. will 
have) his own load to carry. The bur- 
den (^apos, ver, 2) is thought of as a 
grievous thing, weighing a man down : the 
load (0opTiop) is that which is appropriate 
and peculiar to the individual, like a sol- 
dier's kit, or a ship's freight. Every man 
who knows how to test his work impar- 
tially (ver. 4) knows that he has enough 
to do with himself, and little reason to 
spurn or patronise his neighbor. He has 
his own load to carry, of weakness, and 
responsibility ; and he has neither time nor 
taste for comparisons. But while every 
true man is conscious of his load, and 
will be humbled by it into a horror of 
comparisons, he will recognize that his obe- 
dience to Christ is most perfect when he 
is bearing the burdens of others. 

In these five verses, notably in 2 and 5, 
the balance is finely held between individual 
and social responsibility. Beginning with 
the consideration that the Galatians are 
brethren, and must remember one another, 
they end by throwing each man back up- 
on his individual responsibility. A deep 
knowledge of self should teach us at once 
humility and sympathy ; it should burn up 
all self-deception and conceit, and send us 
forth with eager hearts and hands to fulfil 
the great social " law of Christ." 

6. This verse gives a special turn to 
the law of social obligation emphasized 
earlier in the paragraph. Let there be 
a communion between him who is 
taught the word, i.e. the gospel, and him 



Ch. VI] 



GALATIANS. 



263 



7 Be not deceived ; God is not mocked : 
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
he also reap. 

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall 
of the flesh reap corruption; but he that 
soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit 
reap life everlasting. 



9 And let us not be weary in well do- 
ing: for in due season we shall reap, if we 
faint not. 

10 As we have therefore opportunity, 
let us do good unto all men, especially 
unto them who are of the household of 
faith. 



who teaches (it) in all things that are 
good. The English translation in all good 
things tends to suggest primarily material 
things, and this has been encouraged by 
the translation: "let him that is taught 
communicate," the whole being then inter- 
preted as an admonition to the Galatians„ 
such as Paul gave to the Corinthians (i 
Cor. ix. ii) to deal generously in material 
things with their spiritual teachers. But 
Koivcoveiv means to share, not to " com- 
municate " ; besides, on the ordinary trans- 
lation, the verse is somewhat abrupt. The 
point is that there must be a real com- 
munity of ethical interest between teachers 
(the word implies oral, catechetical, in- 
struction) and taught; and the reason for 
singling out these two classes is doubtless 
that the relations between Paul and his 
Galatian pupils had been imperilled by 
the Judaizers. There were many " good 
things " in which the pupils would no 
longer share if they listened to the seduc- 
tive arguments of his opponents. Of 
course the injunction implied by the com- 
mon translation is quite legitimate as a 
deduction from the general principle. If 
there is a real community of spiritual in- 
terest between teacher and pupils, the 
pupils will see that the teachers do not 
suffer in respect of material support. As 
they have reaped so abundantly of their 
teacher's spiritual things, they will not be 
ungenerous with their carnal things. 



TJie Law of the Harvest (vi. 7-10). 

7, 8. Like the Bible generally (cf. Ps. 
i) Paul holds that there are but two ways 
of life — the way of the flesh and the 
way of the spirit; and just before he 
adds his postscript, in a few clear, sharp 
sentences he shows how sure and inevi- 
table are the laws that govern the destinies 
of men, according as they choose the one 
way or the other. The idea is worked 
out under the figure of seed and harvest. 
Men will reap as and what they sow. 
There is a tendency to forget or ignore 
this, but do not deceive yourselves; GOD 
is not mocked (mock, a graphic word; 
lit. " turn up the nose at ") . Men mock 



God when they think to escape His great 
law of the harvest ; but they do not and 
cannot escape it, so He is not really 
mocked ■ — they simply deceive themselves 
(cf. ver. 3). For whatsoever a man 
sows, THAT and nothing else shall he 
also reap. But, in the next verse, it is 
rather at the soil than the seed that Paul 
looks — the soil of the flesh and the soil 
of the spirit. For he that is sowing to 
his (own) flesh, shall from the flesh 
to which he is sowing, reap corruption 
(or destruction), while he who is sow- 
ing to the spirit shall from the spirit 
to which he is sowing, reap life eternal. 
It is possible and legitimate to see in the 
" sowing to the flesh " a reference to cir- 
cumcision, and more generally, to the 
ordinances of the Jewish law ; but it is 
more natural to interpret " flesh " and 
" spirit " here in the light of the catalogue 
of their' respective works and fruit in v. 
19-23. The harvest will be reaped at the 
coming of Christ ; it is this, perhaps, that 
is in the anostle's mind rather than the 
corruption and hfe which may be reaped 
even in this world. The one man lives 
for ever, the other perishes for ever. As 
the flesh, is, by its nature, corruptible, 
nothing but corruption can be expected 
from seed sown on such soil : the contrast, 
however, with " eternal life " makes it 
probable that (pOopd here means destruction. 
The " flesh " to which the one man sows, 
is described as his (or his ozvn), in con- 
trast with " the spirit " which is God's ; 
and here is perhaps a suggestion that the 
carnal hfe is essentially a selUsh one — the 
" spiritual " man must bear another's bur- 
dens (ver. 2). 

9. Confronted as we are by this dread 
alternative, in doing what is noble, let 
us not be faint-hearted, for the harvest 
is sure ; in due season, at the appointed 
time of Christ's coming, we shall reap, 
if we do not grow lax i.e. in well-doing. 
Faith must zvork (v. 6) in hope (v. 5) 
and patience. 

10. So then, with faith in the certainty 
of the harvest, let us zvork; that is the 
conclusion of the whole matter. Certainly 
no one could accuse Paul, in any bad 
sense, of other-worldliness. No man ever 



264 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. VI 



11 Ye see how large a letter I have 
■written unto you with mine own hand, 

12 As many as desire to make a fair 
shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be 
circumcised; only lest they should sufifer 
persecution for the cross of Christ. 



13 For neither they themselves who are 
circumcised keep the law; but desire to' 
have you circumcised, that they may glory 
in your flesh. 



preached more earnestly than he the gospel 
of work, or rather work as a deduction 
from the gospel (cf. i Cor. xv. 58). It is 
not the work that saves — neither works of 
the law nor any other. But faith must ex- 
press itself in love (v. 6) and beneficence to 
all men, at least to all with whom it is 
brought into contact; and the vision and 
the sure hope of the harvest in the other 
world must create or reinforce the desire to 
do with our might what our hands find to 
do in this. In proportion, then, as we 
have opportunity (there is a season for 
sowing as well as for reaping; same word 
as in ver. 9) let us do that which is 
good — which includes,* but means verv 
much more than, liberality (cf. ver. 6) -— 
to all men ; for the good, which it is in 
the power of the Christian to do, has a 
destination no less than universal — and 
especially to those that are of the house- 
hold of faith; not "those who belong to 
the faith," in an objective sense, but "be- 
lievers," all who, sharing the experience 
of faith, form, as it were, a household. 



An Earnest Postscript (vi. 11-18). 

At this point, Paul takes the pen from 
the hand of his amanuensis — for he was 
in the habit of dictating his_ letters (cf. 
Rom. xvi. 22) — and adds in his own 
hand a few verses, which sum up, with 
magnificent earnestness and power, the 
teaching of the whole epistle. Perhaps he 
re-read the letter before adding these 
words, and the whole weight of his argu- 
ment came back upon him again with 
overwhelming force. In any case, the 
hortatory passage which immediately pre- 
ceded had not driven it from his mind ; 
and he restates the leading thoughts of 
the epistle in a few sentences of remark- 
able power. 

II. See, he says, with whit large let- 
ters I am writing to you. He is refer- 
ring apparently only to the postscript (vv. 
11-18). The letters are large, probably 
not because the writer's sight was defec- 
tive (see on iv. 15) nor because he was 
unaccustomed to writing, but in order to 
call special attention to what he had to 
say. His whole soul kindles again as he 



takes pen in hand to present to the " fool- 
ish " Galatians for the last time the truths 
on which so much depends. €ypa\j/a, epis- 
tolary aorist, / wrote: from the point of 
view of the Galatians when they receive 
the letter, the writing is over. And he 
writes this postscript, as he occasionally 
writes a parting greeting or benediction 
(2 Thes. iii. 17 f., i Cor. xvi. 21-24) with 
my own hand. 

12. Our interest is roused by the intro- 
duction, and the first sentence is directed 
against all who desire to make a fair 
show (lit. face) in the flesh, i.e. in out- 
ward, bodily (as opposed to spiritual) 
things, with especial reference, as the con- 
text shows, to circumcision : he means his 
Judaizing opponents. These are the men 
who {ovToi emphatic) compel you to sub- 
mit to circumcision, solely that they may 
avoid persecution for preaching the cross 
of Christ. In this verse and the next Paul 
attributes base motives to the Judaizers in 
their circumcision propaganda. The doc- 
trine of a crucified Alessiah was detestable 
to the true Jew (i Cor. i. 23), and for 
preaching this Paul was pursued by his fel- 
low countrymen with the bitterest hostility. 
The Jewish Christians, to whom Paul is al- 
luding here, sought to draw off from them- 
selves the persecution which the acceptance 
of this doctrine involved, by insisting on 
the necessity of circumcision. In this way, 
while nominally Christians, they tried to 
keep the favor of the Jews, thus showing 
themselves to be at once guilty of cow- 
ardice and compromise, and their religion 
to be concerned with nothing better than 
externals — the fair face: they cared much 
about the flesh and little about the spirit. 

13. But besides cowardice and compro- 
mise, Paul charges them with insincerity 
and vanity: insincerity — for even the 
champions of circumcision themselves do 
not keep the law, but — and here is their 
vanity — they desire to have you circum- 
cised, simply that they may boast in your 
flesh. It is nothing to thorn whetiicr the 
Galatians are "new creatures" (ver. 15) 
or not : they are concerned only with sta- 
tistics. Every Galatian who bore the mark 
of circumcision would be a fresh source of 
joy to them, a new gratification of their 
vanity (cf. iv. 17), an additional means of 



Ch. YI] 



GALATIANS. 



265 



14 But God forbid that I should glory, 
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
by whom the world is crucified unto me, 
and I unto the world. 

15 For in Christ Jesus neither circum- 



cision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcis- 
ion, but a new creature. 

16 And as many as walk according to 
this rule, peace he on them, and mercy, and 
upon the Israel of God. 



propitiating their Jewish friends. In the 
context, ol ireptTefipofxevoi (lit. "those who 
receive circumcision ") while perhaps in- 
cluding the Galatians whom the Judaizers 
have influenced, seems to refer more par- 
ticularly to the Judaizers themselves ; the 
words then practically = " the circumcised," 
and indeed ol Trepirer/iTz/xeVot is read in 
some MSS. Lightfoot translates, "the 
circumcision party." What is meant by 
their "not keeping the law?" More per- 
haps than that they cannot keep it — no 
man can keep it (cf. iii. 10, v. 3) : the 
words of Paul seem to imply a deliberate 
culpabihty. Apparently he is pointing to 
some innate insincerity; champions of the 
law as they are, they do not really care 
about the whole law, but only about its 
more striking features, such as circum- 
cision, by means of which they can show 
their converts before the world, and " glory 
in their flesh." 

14. But, whatever they may boast in, 
never be it MINE to boast except in 
the CROSS of our Lord Jesus Christ — 
the full title here is very impressive. He 
glories in the cross, it is the center of his 
preaching (i Cor. i. 23), because in and 
through it he has found salvation, been 
" delivered out of this present evil world " 
(i. 4). This is an utterance as daring as 
it is profound. To the ordinary Jew the 
doctrine of the cross was odious ; the 
Judaizers sought to escape the odium 
which it drew upon them by a propaganda 
in favor of circumcision. But Paul, so far 
from being ashamed of the cross, or ex- 
cusing it, glories in it ; for it is the thing 
through which to me the world has been 
and evermore remains (perf.) crucified, 
and I to the world. Jowett aptly says 
that this expression " implies the com- 
pleteness of the separation, as we might 
say — 'He is nothing to me, and I am 
nothing to him.' " That Paul was cruci- j 
fied in the crucifixion of Christ is a bold ' 
but already famiHar thought (cf. ,ii. 19) j 
explained by his mysticism ; very daring j 
and original, however, is the phrase " the \ 
world was crucified to me." It is dead to ; 
Paul; Paul is dead to it The world 
" ceases to live as a power to fascinate, 
terrify or hurt" (Adeney), and there is 
nothing now in Paul to which it can make 
its appeal — he is dead to it. The death 



of each to the other was effected by the 
cross. Generally speaking, the world here 
covers the ground covered by our zvorldly 
— all that is not in harmony with the 
spirit of Christ and His cross; more specifi- 
cally, as the close connection of the next 
verse with this shows, it is the world of 
things external and irrelevant to salvation, 
such as circumcision. 

15. For neither circumcision nor un- 
circumcision is anything, but only a new 
creature (lit. creation) is anything, and 
that is everything. Paul had already said 
something similar, but this statement is 
even stronger ; according to v. 6, circum- 
cision avails nothing (for salvation), here 
it is nothing — another of those bold as- 
sertions which show how deeply the soul 
of the apostle was moved as he traced the 
great letters with his own hand. To the 
Judaizers, _ who " compel you to be circum- 
cised," this statement would be a provoca- 
tion and a challenge. But Paul hastens at 
once to correct the too easy inference that 
he ascribes some merit to uncircumcision, 
and adds that it is nothing either. The 
Gentiles are left without ground for pride 
any more than the Jews or the Judaizers. 
The presence or absence of external marks 
(except those which are inwardly related 
to the spirit, cf. ver. 17) counts for simply 
nothing at all; nothing counts but the 
new^ creation — that creation of the divine 
spirit which is a new thing, different from, 
the antithesis of {dWd) the being that 
lived under the old external order of 
things. Here it is "the new creation" (or 
creature) that is contrasted, as the only 
thing of ultimate religious worth, with cir- 
cumcision and uncircumcision ; in v. 6 it 
is " faith operating through love " ; in i 
Cor. vii. 19 it is " the keeping of the com- 
mandments of God." These three state- 
ments afford a most suggestive comparison. 

16. And on all who walk by this line 
or rule (for Kavwv cf. 2 Cor. x. 13) — the 
line drawn in the previous verse which 
defines the essence of religion — be the 
peace and mercy of God, even upon the 
Israel of God, that is, not the Jewish 
Christians particularly, still less the Jewish 
people, but the true " seed of Abraham," 
namely those "who are Christ's," (iii. 29) 
whether Jews or Gentiles. The phrase is 
a collective designation of those who are 



266 



GALATIANS. 



[Ch. VI 



17 From henceforth let no man trouble 
me: for I bear in my body the marks of 
the Lord Jesus. 



18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. 



regarded individually in the first clause of 
the verse. The peace of God forms a fine 
contrast to the strife which was filling 
the Galatian church (v. 20), and it comes 
as the result of His mercy or pity. 

17. The ominous presence of the 
Judaizers has been felt throughout the 
whole epistle; and even in his parting 
words, and after the invocation of peace 
and grace, Paul's mind reverts to the 
trouble they have caused him, and depre- 
cates any future interference with him on 
their part. Henceforth — Paul's great de- 
fence of the gospel in this epistle in reply 
to the action of the legalists constitutes 
a sort of crisis in his life — let no one 
trouble me, put me under the necessity 
of " defending my apostoHc dignity and the 
divine truth of my gospel" (Lipsius). 
For as for me (e7w) — however my op- 
ponents may trim their sails and succeed 
in avoiding persecution — I bear the 
marks of Jesus in my body, as a slave 
does those of his master. " He does not 
say," says Chrysostom, " ' I have,' but 'I 
bear/ (carry), like one who is proud of his 
trophies." The marks of Jesus might mean 
such marks as Jesus bore, e.g. from 
scourging; but more probably it means 
the marks which stamp him as belonging 
to Jesus. Sometimes devotees had the 
name of the god whom they worshipped 
marked upon them, and this was supposed 
to act as a charm. Herodotus (ii. 113) 
tells of an Egyptian temple in which if a 
runaway slave took refuge, " and had sacred 
marks {(yriyixaTa^ as here) put upon him, 
thus giving himself to the God, it was 
unlawful to touch him" — a passage which 
seems to illustrate happily this verse of 
Paul. It is more probable, however, that 
the reference is to the custom of put- 
ting upon slaves the mark of their owners. 
Paul is the servant of Jesus; Jesus is his 



Lord (yv. 14, 18). The marks which 
stamp him as belonging to Jesus are those 
of the afflictions which he has suffered for 
His sake. He has already alluded to his 
persecutions in a general phrase (v. 11) ; 
but the most dramatic commentary upon 
these " marks " is the great passage in 
2 Cor. xi. 23-28, which recounts his perils 
on sea and land. "Of the Jews five times 
received I forty stripes save one. Thrice 
(by the Romans) I was beaten with rods, 
once was I stoned, thrice I was ship- 
wrecked, a night and a day have I been 
in the deep." One who had endured suf- 
ferings so many and so terrible, would 
carry the marks of them upon his body to 
the grave. On the lines and scars of that 
bruised body was written his fidelity to his 
Master; and this was a reason for no man 
troubling him further. The words do not 
mean that he had already suffered enough 
and was weary — it is not in that spirit 
that Paul parts from his antagonists — 
but rather that, marked as the servant of 
Jesus, he wears a dignity which ought to 
exempt him from the troubles with which 
they had importuned him. (So Sieffert.) 
18. After the tumult of the epistle, and 
especially the deep feeling of the preceding 
verse, the benediction, though very curt 
(cf. i. 6, iii. i) falls with singular beauty. 
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 
2 Cor. xiii. 14) be with your spirit — 
practically = " with you," though on hear- 
ing the word " spirit," it is impossible to 
forget the part that it has played in the 
argument of the epistle. Paul has had oc- 
casion to say many stern thinirs to the 
Galatians. He began by expressing his 
surprise that they had so quickly changed 
(i. 6). he had spoken of them as bewitched 
and foolish; but he ends (cf. v. 13, vi. i) 
by calling them brethren. 



FEB 8 



1909 






M 



